Casual Encounters
by RisemboolRanger
Summary: Ritchie Honda is a 22-year-old stage dancer with a pretty well-known reputation and a taste for trouble. After meeting the devil of Ikebukuro her life takes an interesting turn into the city's underworld as it becomes a constant fight for control. Izaya/OC
1. Casual Encounters

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: SAVE RITCHIE**__

_Recently I've had issues with somebody copying this story. I've managed to have it deleted from two of her accounts but she keeps uploading to other sites and creating new accounts to try again. I've been doing a "Save Ritchie" campaign - the more people I can make aware of this, hopefully the more chance I'll have of finding every site this girl has uploaded her stolen story to!_

_So far she's gone under the names ThatStrawberryOkami, thewonderlandblues and recklessranger. Her story has been called both "Mutual Affections" and "Affectionated Rush" and her character has gone by the names of Lumine/Lumina and Lisa "Baby" Lorenzo. There could also be added variations to all of these since she keeps changing things to make herself harder to find._

_If you happen across a story that you feel may be by this girl then please contact me. Help keep Ritchie and her story alive and safe!_

**XXX**

Ritchie Honda paced impatiently back and forth along the alleyway behind the club she worked at. She'd already finished her shift and had been just about to leave when she'd spotted Shizuo Heiwajima lurking around near the entrance to the club… This was when she'd made her sharp exit out the back.

She was a flirty person by nature and would happily use that to her advantage when it came to getting things that she wanted. However, she'd once made the mistake of flirting with Shizuo when he was working as a bartender at the club to try and score some free drinks. She'd gotten the drinks but she'd also gained an unwanted admirer. He'd obviously taken her a little too seriously.

So now she was stuck in the back alleyway. If you could even call it an alleyway… It was an area used mainly for storing empty bottles by the club. Besides the way she'd come through all she was facing were three solid walls.

It would have been possible to climb – she was actually pretty good at climbing and used to participate in free running competitions – but not in the killer high heels she was currently wearing. So her options were either waiting out here or going back inside. She mulled over the idea of how quickly she could get inside and hide behind the bar before being spotted…

"Hey there!"

Ritchie wheeled around, bewildered. There wasn't anybody out here but her. There wasn't even anywhere _for_ anybody to be.

"Up here!" the voice called helpfully.

Ritchie looked up to see a young man sat comfortably up on one of the rooftops, watching her speculatively. She scowled. She didn't like the idea of someone watching her. "Can I help you?"

"You're Richelle Honda, aren't you?" he asked, still regarding her like she was something really interesting.

Ritchie's scowl deepened. She knew she had a bit of a reputation in Ikebukuro – she was okay with that. It was the use of her full name that she wasn't okay with. "It's Ritchie," she corrected him shortly.

The guy didn't seem at all bothered by her blunt tone. He just continued to look rather entertained. "My mistake," he said cheerfully. "So what are you doing back here?"

"I work here," said Ritchie in an exasperated tone. Just who the hell was this guy to question her? "I can hang around out here if I want."

"You look more like you're planning an escape route," the guy pointed out, an amused look on his face.

"And what's it to you?" asked Ritchie. She was starting to think that going back inside the club and throwing herself at Shizuo would be the better option here.

He shrugged. "Maybe I can help."

Ritchie narrowed her eyes. The guy may have been acting cheery but she felt there was a bit more to it than that… She could tell one thing at least – he wasn't someone to be trusted. "And why would you want to do that?"

The guy grinned. "It could be fun."

Okaaay… Trust wasn't an issue anymore; now she was more worried about the guy's sanity. She'd definitely be better off inside with Shizuo. "That's too bad. I'm going back inside now," Ritchie said pointedly.

"What, you're giving in already?" the guy looked disappointed. "I thought you were hiding from someone."

"Wait, how did you know that?" said Ritchie suspiciously. She was pretty sure she hadn't mentioned that she was avoiding anyone. The guy just smirked and didn't answer. Ritchie had a sneaky suspicion of what was going on… "Was it Shizuo? Did he get _you_ following me too?"

However, his reaction was not what she'd expected. He clapped his hands together in delight. "So it _is_ Shizu-chan you're hiding from!"

Saying Ritchie felt lost would be a total understatement. She had no idea who this guy was, how he knew she was trying to avoid Shizuo or what he was even trying to get at… All she knew was this conversation was tiring her out. The only thing she'd wanted to do was get out of there.

"Look… I don't really care who you are. I'm bored of this conversation and I just wanna go home," said Ritchie. "I'd say it's been a blast, but it hasn't really…"

"So why don't you let me help you get out of here?" said the guy, kicking his legs out like a child on a swing.

"Why exactly are you so keen to help me?" asked Ritchie dubiously. Just as the guy went to speak she then cut him off. "And if you say it's because you think it'll be _fun_ then I'm gonna take one of these empty bottles and throw it at you."

The guy looked at her in mock surprise. "Violence!" He tutted. "I'm trying to be your knight in shining armour; you should be a little nicer to me."

Ritchie snorted. Yeah, right. He was as far from a knight in shining armour as she was from a simpering damsel in distress. "Stop dodging the question."

The guy gave her a lazy smile. "I guess you could say we're in the same boat. I'm hardly Shizu-chan's biggest fan either."

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. "Yet you call him Shizu-chan?"

He grinned. "Of course. He can't stand it."

Ritchie stared at him in disbelief. Did this guy have a death wish? Shizuo Heiwajima was infamous for being a notorious badass. Everyone made a point to _not_ piss him off. Except for Ritchie, but she could obviously get away with it.

"Well that's your funeral…" Ritchie shrugged. "How are you planning to help me anyway? As far as I can see my only options are either going back inside or just staying out here."

"You could just climb up this way," the guy suggested.

"In these shoes? I don't think so," said Ritchie.

The guy gave an overdramatic sigh. "You could just take them off," he proposed, like it was obvious.

Ritchie made a face at that idea. She was far from being a snob but she'd seen this back alleyway used as a toilet more than once. Her shoes were staying on. "I don't think so."

He grinned. "Are you being deliberately uncooperative?"

"Actually I'm just being me," Ritchie said truthfully. "Being difficult is one of my strong suits."

The guy laughed. "You're a very interesting human… Now why don't you stop worrying about your shoes and come on up here?"

Ritchie hesitated. She realised that she'd been standing out here making conversation with this stranger for quite a while. Shizuo had probably even taken off by now. Anybody else would have just declined and gone back inside… But Ritchie hated being predictable. And she happened to have a bit of a taste for seeking out trouble.

She studied the wall ahead of her. It wasn't high – only about eight or nine feet. It was uneven, weathered and it had plenty of reasonably-sized handholds. If she took her time she could probably manage to climb it, even wearing these ridiculous heels. She'd most likely be eighty by the time she got up there but at least it would be better than falling on her ass.

She made a show of sighing and rolling her eyes. "Eh… Why not…"

The climb actually wasn't as difficult as she'd expected. Maybe she'd been exaggerating a little about her shoes… Sure, they'd hardly be any use on an assault course but, amazingly, they could happily withstand a bit of climbing. The thing that was most distracting was the annoying chuckling she could hear above her. Why was she doing this again?

When she pulled herself onto the top the guy was on his feet, watching her with that amused look on his face. She had no idea what was supposed to be funny and that annoyed her. "Happy now?" she said sarcastically.

"Very," said the guy, still amused.

Up close Ritchie was able to study him better. He was a good several inches taller than her – though most people were – with a lean build. He had messy black hair and dark eyes – she couldn't tell what colour in this early morning light. His mouth seemed permanently turned up in a half smirk. His whole appearance just screamed bad boy.

"So who are you anyway?" Ritchie asked curiously. After all, most people would have had better things to do at five o'clock in the morning than hang around sitting on rooftops and goading strangers.

"I thought you'd never ask!" he said brightly, giving her a mock bow. "I'm Izaya Orihara."

Surprise shot through her. Crap! Izaya Orihara was another infamous figure in Ikebukuro. He was a twisted intel broker who most people generally avoided. He and Shizuo had a long-running feud, which explained why he'd found it so amusing that Ritchie had been hiding from him.

Ritchie sighed. Only she could get herself involved with possibly the two most ill-famed people in the city. "So am I free to go now?" Now that she was up out of the alleyway getting home would be a cinch.

Izaya grinned. "You're not afraid of me, are you Ritchie-chan?"

Ritchie scowled again at his informal manner. "Call me that again and I'll kick your teeth in," she threatened.

Izaya just chuckled and ignored her threat. "I won't be offended if you are. I am a bad influence after all."

Ritchie gave him a withering look. "Trust me… I'm a stage dancer, I drink around the clock and I've already been arrested four times. I don't think there's anything left of me that you _could_ influence."

Izaya laughed appreciatively. "I can see we're going to get along great. I'd very much like to run into you again..."

A small voice in the back of Ritchie's mind was advising her to tell him to back off and then avoid him like the plague. Unfortunately the rest of her had no such plans.

The one thing she ever asked for was an interesting life. That was why she'd moved to Ikebukuro in the first place. She had no time for rules and she purposely set out looking for trouble.

Izaya Orihara was the definition of trouble.

So she simply shrugged and said, "Well you know where to find me if you've got something interesting in mind."

Without giving him any kind of goodbye she turned away and hopped down the fire escape on the other side of the building, feeling slightly excited for the first time in quite a while.


	2. A Deal With The Devil

The following week went by as usual without any extra visits from anymore shady characters, let alone the mysterious info broker. Ritchie hadn't even seen Shizuo Heiwajima around for the last several days. That was definitely a welcome turn of events.

Another welcome factor was the staff turnover at the club. The boss had hired one too many newbies, meaning a lot of the dancers didn't have to do as long a shift as usual for at least the next few weeks. Ritchie made sure she was one of the first ones to be put down for some shorter shifts. Finishing early meant you got to hang around the club while the night was still going and all staff, on shift or not, were entitled to free drinks. Who wouldn't want that?

So on Friday, Ritchie was even happier than she usually was at work as she sashayed around the pole on stage at half past midnight, knowing she only had half an hour left of her shift before she could go and join the happy clubbers dancing and drinking down on the dance floor.

She decided to give that last half hour her all. Kosuke, the deputy manager of the club, was one of the bartenders on duty tonight. Hopefully if he saw her doing a good job he'd be extra generous with the vodka later on when she took advantage of the free drinks perk.

So she abused the pole on her podium as much as she could. A lot of people – the ones whose minds were closed beyond belief – saw pole dancing simply as slutty and degrading. They obviously didn't realise what ridiculously good exercise it was, Ritchie thought to herself, as she was forced into using all of her upper body strength to keep herself aloft on the pole.

Her brand new Jimmy Choo heels could handle the job a lot better than the killer stilettos she'd been wearing when she'd scaled the wall outside the club last week. Despite her job, Ritchie wasn't at all overly feminine. She hated wearing makeup and she always just let her hair fall the way it wanted to – it was a good thing her short black locks always happened to naturally stand out in a stylishly untidy manner. Her one true girly trait was her weakness for shoes. She had an extensive collection of over forty pairs. In Ritchie's mind, expensive _did _mean better.

Her hard work paid off. After she was joined on her podium by one of the new girls ready to take over – a pretty young blonde who looked way too innocent for this line of work – she hopped down onto the dance floor and headed straight for the bar, where she was rewarded with a cocktail that was three-parts vodka and one-part fruit juice. She beamed her thanks at Kosuke before joining the mass of intoxicated dancers.

For the next hour or so Ritchie was content. She'd been round several male dance partners, separating them with beelines back to the bar. She loved flirting and she loved to dance with guys. She liked to keep her escapades tasteful but she'd definitely had her fair share of male action. She didn't really care if anybody thought she was a slut.

When guys had already seen her working her moves on the podiums it wasn't difficult to find a willing partner. It then depended on Ritchie's mood as to whether she wanted to pursue flirting with the next guy or if she wanted him to remain nameless and faceless whilst they did nothing but dance.

Having spent plenty of time flirting with both her second and third suitor, Ritchie was happy to spend the rest of the night concentrating just on dancing. She intended to continue doing so when the next set of hands found her shoulders and a body pressed slightly up against her back.

She fell back into the rhythm of the music – a fairly new Flo-Rida song that was one of the club's most popular anthems right now – and her newest partner moved with her for a bit. His hands never left her shoulders and soon prompted her into turning round, obviously insistent on either making conversation or just simply making out.

Ritchie turned towards him reluctantly, briefly hoping it was someone she didn't know and that it wasn't Shizuo or his minion Tom Tanaka. It wasn't either. To her immense surprise it was Izaya Orihara. What the hell was he doing here?

Both an asset and flaw of Ritchie's was that she had no qualms about saying exactly what was on her mind. So she did just that. "What the hell are you doing here?" She pulled back slightly so that she could study his face better. His hands slid from her shoulders.

"I believe I'm dancing with you," he replied cheerfully, the same easy smirk on his face that he'd worn last week. Ritchie had a feeling that this was his usual expression. "And I'm pretty sure it was you who invited me to find you here in the first place."

Crap. Of course she had. She'd only been telling her two penpals from online about it the other day. She was quite close to her penpals. She'd only met one of the two, Sei, but she spoke to them both nearly every day. It was on recommendation from both of them that she'd moved to Ikebukuro in the first place.

Neither of them had approved when she'd told them of her previous exchange with Izaya. Everyone in this town knew his reputation for being trouble. Sei had firmly advised her to forget it had ever happened and just stay away from him. Her other penpal, Kanra, had simply mused over Ritchie's sanity.

Ritchie shrugged off his comment, avoiding admitting that he was right. "Still… I wouldn't have figured you for a dancer."

"I'm not really," Izaya admitted. "I came here to watch you dance. I never would have guessed I'd get the pleasure of dancing with you myself."

Ritchie snorted. He couldn't have sounded less sincere. Then she remembered what he did for a living and wondered if sincerity was something he was even capable of. "Sure you did. And I'm guessing you knew I was a dancer from my wardrobe or something, right?"

"Right," Izaya agreed, looking amused.

Ritchie rolled her eyes. Of course. It was fruitless trying to get an honest answer from someone like him but she couldn't help being persistent. She put one hand on her hip in a show of her no-nonsense attitude. "So how did you know I'd be here _tonight_? I only work four nights a week and my shifts are always changing."

Izaya's lips twitched and his smirk widened. "I'd say it was a lucky guess."

Ritchie scowled. No way was she accepting that. "New choice."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." The amusement still never left his face.

"I mean I want you to change your answer to one that isn't total bull," Ritchie said simply.

Izaya laughed out loud at that, but then he turned away, looking distracted as he gazed out across the dance floor. "As much as I'd like to I'm afraid I'm gonna have to bounce."

"Excuse me?" said Ritchie in disbelief. That was the lamest excuse she'd ever heard for dodging a question. He'd purposely sought her out here and now he was already running off without explaining a thing. "I don't think so! You're gonna stay right here and give me a real answer."

Izaya sighed, as if he was having to explain something trivial to an impatient child. "Within the next twenty seconds Shizu-chan is going to spot me and then proceed to an attempt to kill me. I'd much rather split before that happens."

Ritchie looked round in surprise. Shizuo was here? She spotted him straightaway. It wasn't difficult – he was tall and always seen wearing a bold black and white bartender's get-up. Oh great… She swore instinctively without even realising. She really didn't want to deal with him right now.

Her reaction just seemed to amuse Izaya even more. "And from the sounds of it maybe you'd like to come with me." He held a hand out to her, his eyes full of nothing but danger and deceit.

Ritchie raised an eyebrow. "How do I know you're not just going to kidnap me?"

"You don't," said Izaya brightly, completely unperturbed by the accusation.

Ritchie hesitated and glanced towards Shizuo again. He was a lot closer now, pushing his way past people. She wasn't sure if he'd seen her or not, but from the extremely pissed off look on his face he'd definitely seen Izaya and that was who he was heading for.

She quickly turned back to Izaya. He was still watching her easily, but he was tensed and ready to bolt. She had literally seconds to decide. Even the damn Flo-Rida song that was still playing was encouraging her.

"We're counting down. We're counting down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…"

She should have said no. Of course she should have said no. But she'd been impulsive all her life and she was feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline. "Fine. Let's go for it."

She'd barely outstretched her hand when Izaya grabbed it and jerked her roughly into the crowd. He didn't waste time trying to weave round anyone; he just forced a pathway through the mass of people. Ritchie found herself having to run as fast as she could to keep up in her heels. She wasn't entirely sure if it was working – it still felt like she was just being dragged along.

Some guy's beer cascaded over her head as she bumped past his arm. She shook her hair furiously as she ran. If anything happened to her Jimmy Choos then Izaya could forget about Shizuo. He'd have to worry about running away from her.

There were so many people around that Ritchie couldn't even tell whereabouts in the club they were. Then suddenly she was pulled outside. She hadn't realised how close to the exit they'd been. Izaya didn't stop there though. He sprinted across the main road, dragging Ritchie along with him. It was lucky that there weren't any cars coming – he hadn't even bothered to look. Though at three in the morning traffic was quite unlikely.

A roar from behind told them that Shizuo had still followed them out of the club. Izaya seemed only amused by this however, and was laughing as he ran. It was a little unnerving. He suddenly changed direction and darted down a side alley, with Ritchie still in tow.

All she could do was concentrate on keeping up. If, in the future, at any point she had a feeling Izaya was going to show up then she was going to make sure she was wearing better shoes. This was twice now that her choice of footwear had held her back.

The silver ring on Izaya's forefinger was biting into her hand. It was annoyingly distracting. She wondered what would happen if Shizuo actually caught up with them… _She'd_ have nothing to worry about of course. But would she feel guilty if he got hold of Izaya? Nope, not really. She didn't even know the guy. And from the sound of his reputation he did this kind of thing every day. It'd be his own damn fault.

They'd changed direction so many times and turned down so many little alleyways that Ritchie had no idea where they even were anymore. She was pretty sure that Shizuo couldn't still be following them.

They turned into a dead end and Izaya stopped so abruptly that Ritchie barrelled straight into him, staggering in her impractical heels. She blew hair out of her face impatiently. "Now what?" she asked breathlessly.

Izaya finally released her hand and all but danced over to the rickety metal fire escape on the far wall. He gave it a good shake and the ladder slid down, clattering to a stop as it hit the floor.

"Up we go!" he said cheerily. That grin had probably never left his face the whole time they were running.

Ritchie sighed. More climbing in heels… She'd definitely have to look into getting some sensible but still sexy shoes. "You first."

He obviously didn't need telling twice – he bounded all the way up the fire escape like it was effortless. Ritchie's shoes may have affected her balance somewhat but her experience in free running meant she was able to make her way to the roof of the building _almost_ as fast as Izaya had.

Once she was up there she knew the game was over. She was right; they'd lost Shizuo a while back. The adrenaline was still pumping through her body. She couldn't help herself – she suddenly started to laugh. Crazy as the situation was, this was the most fun she'd had in ages.

Izaya didn't seem at all bothered by her little outburst. He was too busy balancing on the edge of the rooftop and surveying the city. As if it was _his_ city.

"Hey," said Ritchie loudly. She hadn't forgotten that before the crazy escape he'd been neatly dodging all of her questions. She wasn't going anywhere until she got at least one real answer.

He turned to face her expectantly. "Yes?"

"I still want some explanations," Ritchie persisted. "I wanna know how you found out when I was working, how you knew I'd been hiding from Shizuo last week and how you even knew who I was in the first place. And I want the truth this time. Not your backwash excuses."

Izaya sighed theatrically and hopped back down from the railing. He walked over to her, the usual smile on his face. "It's quite simple really… You told me yourself."

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. Was she really supposed to buy that? "New choice."

Izaya's smile widened at the repeat of the phrase she'd used earlier. "There is no other choice. I'm serious."

"I've only met you once before and I really don't recall telling you any of that," said Ritchie, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"You're a smart girl. I'm sure you can figure it out," said Izaya, still not giving anything away.

Ritchie frowned. She was genuinely confused. She tried to think who would have known her shifts this week. And who she'd told about Shizuo. The only people she could think of was Sei – the last time they'd met up – and her other penpal Kanra. Wait… The penpal that she'd never met… The penpal who had been happy to instant message and text her almost every day but had always dodged the opportunity to meet up…

Ritchie stared at Izaya in disbelief as everything clicked into place. "You're Kanra? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Izaya looked positively delighted. "See? I knew you could figure it out!"

Ritchie couldn't have cared less that she'd met his expectations. She was too outraged. "You told me you were a girl! I've been talking to you this whole time believing that!"

"Ahh. You shouldn't believe everything that people tell you online, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya in a mocking tone.

"Don't call me that!" protested Ritchie. "Where the hell do you get off on pretending to be a girl?"

"Would you have trusted me if you'd known I wasn't?" Izaya pointed out.

"Well no…" said Ritchie, feeling increasingly annoyed at herself. He'd just said that she was a smart girl but she was actually very stupid. She didn't like talking to guys online – they were only ever after one thing. Talking to girls gave her a false sense of security. Instead she should never have trusted anyone online. Izaya was right there. He was fucking proof of it.

He could obviously see her frustration. "I didn't mean to deceive you," he said, though he didn't sound particularly sorry about it. He sounded more like he was just plain enjoying himself. "But you probably wouldn't be here now if I hadn't."

Ritchie bit her lip. It was true. She'd grown up in a quiet little town called Nerima, not too far from here. It was impossible to have much of a social life in Nerima and the basis of Ritchie's had been spent online, making penpals. It was a life she'd hated and she'd always been desperate for more. For the hustle and bustle of a big city.

Sei and Kanra had been her closest penpals. Both were from Ikebukuro and the encouragement from the two of them had been what had convinced Ritchie to move there too.

She really wasn't thrilled to have discovered that one of these people had actually been a guy just totally playing her. But she was glad that her choice to move here hadn't just been because of the person she'd known as Kanra. Sei had played an equal part in it too. And Ritchie knew that she could trust Sei at least. They'd met up many times since she'd got here and they'd gotten to be even closer friends in person.

So the situation wasn't really all bad, right? Though regardless, whichever way you looked at it, Ritchie was still pissed at being lied to.

"I honestly don't know whether I should thank you or hit you," Ritchie confessed, still glaring at him. Izaya laughed and she held up a hand before he could say anything. "I'll pass on both for now if you tell me why you wanted to get me here in the first place."

"Isn't it obvious? When it comes to the things we want you and I are a lot alike," said Izaya, leaning in close to her. "I encouraged you to move here because I figured you'd be a lot of fun."

Their faces were only inches apart. Ritchie couldn't tell if he was trying to be sexual, intimidating or if he just had no regards for people's personal space. She had a feeling it was probably the latter. Whichever it was she stood her ground and didn't move away.

"So how did you even know to talk to me?" she asked. That was the one she was most confused about.

"I didn't," said Izaya simply. "Don't flatter yourself; you weren't the only girl I started talking to."

Ritchie flushed with anger. Flatter herself? What the hell was he trying to imply? "Excuse me?"

Izaya just laughed at her reaction. "There's no need to get angry. Don't you see? The only reason I bothered speaking to all of those people was just so that I could find at least one human who interested me. Then, by a stroke of luck, I found you. And you are _definitely_ my idea of interesting."

Ritchie stared at him. She wasn't sure if she was flattered or if she was insulted that she was just part of some weird experiment. "Lucky me," she said sarcastically.

Izaya seemed oblivious to her sarcasm. He was too wrapped up in his own crazy little idea. "So what do you think? Do you wanna hang out more often?"

The words sounded all wrong coming from him. Sinister, almost. They were more like what you'd hear a teenage boy suggesting to his high school crush. Ritchie highly doubted that was the case here. "Define hang out."

Izaya spread his arms wide. He seemed to have a habit of gesturing a lot as he spoke. "Why, whatever you like! I know you crave excitement and that's what my life's all about!" He gave her a twisted smile. The smile of a super villain. "It's almost as if we were made to be together."

If it hadn't have been for the total lack of sincerity in his tone the words could have sounded like a dating proposal. As it was, it couldn't have been further from it. It was more like being offered a deal from Satan.

"Rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong, right?" quoted Ritchie, her voice still keeping the sarcastic edge. Sarcasm was her best defence and she'd learnt to never drop your guard around people you'd consider dangerous. Nobody else could have fit the description more.

Izaya just grinned at her. He gave no indication as to whether or not he even understood the Grease quote. To be honest it would have been pretty weird if he did. "So do you feel like forming an alliance?"

"Now _that_ sounds more like it!" exclaimed Ritchie suddenly. Izaya looked a little taken aback by her change of tune. Ritchie had a feeling he was the kind of person that wasn't easy to surprise. Score one brownie point for her. "The whole 'meant to be together' line sounded a little too flowery for me." She gestured quotation marks with her fingers.

"So you don't feel like becoming my new best friend?" Izaya mocked.

"If that means pinky promises and braiding each other's hair then no thanks," said Ritchie.

Izaya's grin widened. "Fine. No silly teenage vows and no hairdressing sessions. How about spirited pillow fights in our underwear?"

Ritchie fought the urge to smile. That was more the kind of line she was used to. "Not happening."

Izaya gave an overdramatic sigh and closed his eyes. "Well I suppose I can make do with just chasing after the secret goings-on of Ikebukuro's underworld…" He opened one eye and smirked at her. "What do you think?"

This was another moment where Ritchie should have just cut her losses and walked away. But she couldn't. Not now. No force on earth could have made her resist her temptation for danger and excitement. She'd just had her first real taste of exhilaration running through the back streets of Ikebukuro. She wanted that feeling again. Izaya Orihara was possibly the only person that could offer her that. How could she say no to the fire of dancing with the devil?

"I think I can live with that too," said Ritchie, her lips curving up into her own wicked grin. It was nothing compared to Izaya's of course, but it had certainly sent plenty of guys running in the past.

"Like an angel fallen from grace," Izaya commented poetically, recognising Ritchie's own dark side. "I was right. This is going to be fun."


	3. Branching Out

Ritchie's life seemed to have hit an interesting turning point. She'd work her four nights a week, get her usual average of six hours sleep the days following her shifts – maybe a couple more if she'd drank too much – and then spend nearly all of her other time with Ikebukuro's infamous intel broker.

Sometimes Izaya would come and find her at work. But most of the time he'd just send her a message telling her to go and meet him somewhere. She jumped willingly every time. Her thirst for excitement had reached an ultimate high and Izaya seemed to be the only drug for it.

It was like she'd signed a contract with the devil. She was his henchgirl, his minion, his pawn… Whichever way you looked at it her role wasn't exactly flattering. But the truth was she couldn't do it alone. She was still new to Ikebukuro and on her own she was just a lost girl in a city too big. She wasn't streetwise like Izaya yet. He was happy to spend his days roaming the streets, talking to anyone and everyone. And Ritchie would follow him like an obedient puppy, depending on him far more than she would have liked to.

But she was slowly starting to develop her own knowledge of the city and was confident enough to explore certain parts of Ikebukuro by herself when Izaya wasn't around. There were a lot of interesting characters in this city and it satisfied her to find out things herself without Izaya's help. Though the excitement level was never the same. She was only an amateur after all.

When she was with Izaya it was often hard to tell if she was safer or not. Safer because he had the know-how for pretty much everything. In more danger because he had a real knack for finding trouble. Ritchie didn't mind this though. In truth she enjoyed it. The thrill of escaping from danger – which more often than not came in the form of Shizuo Heiwajima – was always the best part.

She'd even bought two new pairs of Karen Millen boots – one in black and one in red. They had only very small wedges and were much more practical for running and climbing, which she seemed to be doing a lot of lately. She kept the red pair at her apartment and the black pair in her locker at work, so she was always prepared wherever Izaya decided to show up.

Ritchie had started to develop her own interests in particular people, places and urban legends of Ikebukuro. The one that intrigued her most was the story of the Black Rider. She'd seen her once. She'd zoomed past Ritchie on her motorcycle the one morning when she'd been on her way home from work. Ritchie had been fascinated by it and had quickly become obsessed with the idea of seeing her again.

She'd asked Izaya about it and he'd told her bits and pieces of the legend. Only parts of a story. Ritchie could tell that he knew more than he was telling her and that annoyed her. Izaya didn't normally give information for free – that was his job after all – but some naïve part of her thought that he should humour her seeing as they were almost friends. If you could call their unusual arrangement friendship.

Subconsciously, she knew she was being silly. Maybe she should have been grateful that he let her follow him around for free. The deal may have been his idea in the first place, but it seemed to benefit Ritchie a lot more than it did him. Either way, she told herself she wasn't going to pay him for more information on the Black Rider – mostly out of principal. She'd find out for herself instead.

She didn't know many people well enough to start asking around about it. Her closest friends in the city were Sei and her boyfriend Reita, but she'd already asked them both and it was clear neither of them knew much about the subject. She didn't want to ask anybody from work. It was always better to keep work and personal affairs separate. With those options out of the question she didn't really have anyone else she could turn to…

Except for one person.

Shizuo Heiwajima's interest in Ritchie had considerably cooled lately. She hadn't seen him at the club since the first time she'd ran out of there with Izaya. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. He obviously wasn't impressed with her new choice of company. She was happy about that at least… But hopefully he'd still talk to her if she was the one who approached him first.

She knew by now a few of the places where Shizuo tended to hang out – mostly because they were places that Izaya usually avoided unless he was purposely looking to cause trouble – so she'd started loitering around those in particular for the last few days when she had time to herself. Eventually she got lucky.

"Hey dancer girl. What are you doing in this neck of the woods?"

Ritchie turned to see Shizuo leaning casually against the wall behind her, a burning cigarette clamped between his teeth as usual. "Just passing through," she said offhandedly.

"So where's your flea of a friend today?" asked Shizuo, not quite able to keep the malice from entering his tone.

Ritchie shrugged. "I dunno. Around, I guess." She didn't know or particularly care where Izaya was right now. It wasn't like she was his keeper and she definitely wasn't going to get into it with Shizuo.

Shizuo snorted and took a drag of his cigarette. "You seem like a stand up girl; you should rethink your company a little more," he advised. "You can do a lot better than a leech like that."

Resisting the urge to tell Shizuo to mind his own damn business, Ritchie promptly changed the subject and got straight to the point. "Do you know anything about the Black Rider?"

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Clearly he hadn't been expecting that one. "Yeah. I know her." He took another drag of his cigarette. "Who's asking?"

Now it was Ritchie's turn to be surprised. She'd been hoping he would know at least something about the Black Rider… She hadn't expected him to know her personally!

"Really? You're actually friends with her? What's she like?" The words came out in a rush, making Ritchie sound a lot more excited than she'd intended. It was very out of character for her and she silently cursed herself.

If Shizuo had been surprised before it was nothing compared to now. After all, Ritchie didn't really come across as the gushy type. "What's this all about?"

"Well…" Ritchie pointedly looked away as she spoke. There was no way to explain it without sounding like a clueless little girl. "I saw her the one night. I just thought she seemed cool..." God, it sounded even worse out loud.

Thankfully Shizuo wasn't like Izaya – if he was amused then he didn't show it. "So why are you asking me? Your bloodsucking friend seems to know every damn thing that goes on in this city… Why didn't you just ask him?"

"I can do this without his help," said Ritchie testily. She was still annoyed about the fact that Izaya wasn't willing to tell her for free.

Unfortunately Shizuo grasped the situation pretty quickly. "Oh, so he wouldn't tell you unless you paid him, right? I told you, he's an evil waste of space."

Ritchie gritted her teeth. "Yeah, whatever."

Shizuo raised his eyebrows again. "What? Don't like hearing me insult him? Because that's not gonna change any time soon."

"Insult him as much as you want. I couldn't care less," said Ritchie truthfully. "I just don't really like being reminded of the fact that he's an asshole and won't tell me anymore unless I pay him."

"So you're gonna find out for yourself just to get back at him?" asked Shizuo.

"Yeah, pretty much," Ritchie admitted. If anyone was able to appreciate that it'd be Shizuo.

He did. "Well then…" He sucked the last out of his cigarette before tossing it onto the floor and stamping it out. "There's someone who knows the Black Rider more than anyone – I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you anything you wanna know." He pulled a scrap of paper and a pen out of his pocket, scribbled something down and handed it to Ritchie. "That's his number. His name's Shinra Kishitani."

"Err, thanks…" said Ritchie, surprised. Who knew Shizuo could read and write? She'd always seen him as a big, fairly brainless brute.

"And do me a favour… Make sure you really rub it in that rat's face that you didn't need his help." With that Shizuo turned and stalked off out of sight.

Huh. It looked like Ritchie was in Shizuo's good books again. She wasn't sure if she was particularly happy about that, but she was still grateful that he'd helped her. Maybe his hatred for Izaya would come in handy more in the future too.

She didn't waste any time in taking his tip. She pulled out her cell phone and dialled the number Shizuo had given her. Somebody answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Erm, hi. Is this Shinra Kishitani?" Ritchie asked, just to be sure.

"It is. Can I ask who's calling?" came the reply.

"My name's Ritchie Honda. Shizuo Heiwajima gave me your number – he said you may be able to help me," Ritchie explained.

"Oh, so you're a friend of Shizuo's?" asked Shinra happily.

Ritchie gritted her teeth. She wouldn't go that far. But then this Shinra guy might not want to help if she said she wasn't. "Sort of…"

He didn't seem to notice how vague her answer was. "So what can I help you with?"

"Well…" Ritchie hesitated, the feeling of coming across like a little girl was back. "I wanted to know about the Black Rider. Apparently you know more on the subject than anyone else."

Shinra laughed. "You could say that. You're not a reporter or anything, are you?"

"No, I work at a club," said Ritchie, confused.

"Oh, that's okay then. Sorry, the Black Rider actually happens to be a good friend of mine. I don't think she'd really want personal information about her spilled to the media," Shinra explained.

"Oh right, I understand. It was nothing like that. I was actually just… curious," Ritchie finished lamely, feeling stupid again. That part was true but now it was more fuelled by the desire to prove to Izaya that she could get information without his help. Though she could hardly tell Shinra that.

However, Shinra didn't seem to think she was stupid. He actually seemed pleased that she was so interested. "Well I tell you what… How about you come visit me at my apartment? I can tell you whatever you need to know!"

Ritchie was taken aback. She wasn't used to people being nice when there wasn't something in it for them. Everyone always had their own motive. First Shizuo, now this guy? Surely she was being spoilt!

"Erm, sure," agreed Ritchie. "When would be best for you?"

"Any time this afternoon would be fine," said Shinra cheerfully.

Ritchie agreed and he gave her directions to his place. She thanked him again before hanging up, still stunned. Maybe not all people were as bad as she thought.

By the afternoon Ritchie felt like she'd learnt enough about the Black Rider to rival even Izaya's knowledge on the subject. Shinra was quite a jolly character. He was more than happy to tell Ritchie everything he could. He'd explained how the Black Rider was in fact a faerie, a dullahan from Irish folklore, by the name of Celty Sturluson. He confirmed that she didn't have a head – that she'd lost it a long time ago.

Ritchie didn't know what she found more surprising. The fact that the Black Rider was Shinra's roommate or the fact that he was clearly besotted by her. He seemed to think she was perfect even without her head. She couldn't imagine how this friendly, obviously geeky guy could possibly know somebody as bad-ass as Shizuo.

"It's a shame. You might have been able to meet her if she hadn't been working today," said Shinra.

"Where does she work?" asked Ritchie curiously, trying to imagine what a headless motorcyclist would do for a job.

"She works as a courier. She travels around on her motorcycle doing various jobs for people," Shinra explained. "She's working for an information broker at the moment."

Ritchie stiffened. Surely there couldn't be many information brokers in Ikebukuro. "You mean Izaya Orihara?"

"Oh, you know Izaya?" asked Shinra, surprised.

Ritchie frowned to herself. So not only had Izaya known more about the Black Rider than he'd let on – he'd even hired her! Damn him. Would he ever have told her about it? "No, I can't say I _know_ him," Ritchie said shortly.

"Ah, so you've just heard of him. Well I don't think Celty likes him very much," Shinra continued. "But a job's a job. It's not like she can just get work anywhere."

"Yeah…" agreed Ritchie, wondering how well Shinra himself knew Izaya. But instead she asked, "So how do you know Shizuo anyway?"

"We used to go to school together," said Shinra brightly. "We were in the same year."

"No way," said Ritchie in disbelief. She couldn't imagine Shizuo in his school years. He must have got into trouble heaps of times.

"Yeah, Izaya was in our class too," added Shinra.

She _definitely_ couldn't imagine Izaya in school! "Bet they hated each other even back then, didn't they?"

"Yep. Right from the start!" smiled Shinra, who seemed to see it as a fond memory.

Ritchie was curious to find out more about what Izaya had been like at school but she couldn't really ask anything else without showing that she _did _actually know him. She was already close to giving that away as it was.

She didn't care if Shinra knew that but she knew it would now sound silly since she'd already been petty and claimed that she didn't know him. So she fielded him with some more questions about Celty instead. She was determined to learn as much as possible so that she could really shove it in Izaya's face.

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

I've really gotta say… thank you so much for the support I've had on this story! It was originally just going to be a short piece on how Ritchie and Izaya met but I've had such good feedback that it prompted me into continuing it! So for that, thank you!

No Izaya in this chapter – sorry folks! Also apologies for the shortness of this one… But if I'd included the next scene in this chapter too it would have totally dragged it out.

Also I've had a few people on both here and dA point out my use of non-Japanese music in the last chapter so I feel the need to clarify it. My friend has actually been over there for a while and apparently a lot of the clubs use a multicultural mix of music so you will hear some more Westernised stuff!


	4. Redemption

Ritchie was starting to get annoyed. Really annoyed.

She'd had a crappy night. Firstly, they'd decided to try out some new music while she was on shift. It was pretty dire and she'd felt like it had affected her performance quite a bit.

Secondly, Gobei was on bartender duty. He was always ridiculously stingy with the spirits.

Thirdly, it seemed to be asshole night. Every lecherous man and his dog had tried hitting on her in the last hour. She wouldn't have minded if she'd attracted at least one hottie… But no. There seemed to be some kind of bachelor party for the uglies going on tonight.

She wanted to go home. It was only two in the morning and she wanted to go home. It was pathetic.

She'd been sat at the bar with her phone out for the last ten minutes, pretending to text and hoping it would discourage the creep next door from talking to her. Unfortunately he was oblivious to her not-so-subtle hint and continued to yapper away and touch her arm an unnecessary amount.

If this kept up then Ritchie was going to end up taking her frustration out on whoever was nearest. Most likely in some form of violence. But she couldn't. Not while she was in the club. She may not have been on shift now but the staff would still find out and then she'd be in a heap of trouble.

One bad night wasn't worth losing her job over. The first opportunity she saw to get away from this guy she was bolting out of the place and going home. She no longer cared that it was early.

No sooner had she decided, her prayers were answered. But not quite in the way she would have hoped.

"Hey," said a deep voice from behind her, loud enough to be heard over the music.

Ritchie turned round on her stool. Oh great, it was Shizuo. So was he definitely back on the scene now?

"Oh hey," she replied casually. She didn't feel like she could just ignore him like she'd done in the past. He _had_ helped her out the other day after all. She couldn't be that ungrateful.

"Who are you supposed to be? You're interrupting us," Mr. Lecherous Drunk cut in, giving Shizuo an annoyed look.

"Really?" Shizuo cocked an eyebrow and shot Ritchie a quizzical look, who quickly shook her head. "So who's this?"

"My new best friend," said Ritchie sarcastically.

Unfortunately, the drunkard was too focused on Shizuo to notice the sarcasm. "You haven't answered my question! Who are _you_?" he persisted. Not a smart move.

Shizuo's eyebrow curved even higher. "I'm Shizuo Heiwajima, who the hell are you?"

Ritchie took the second to see the fear set into the man's eyes before deciding this was the opportunity she'd been wanting. Leaving the guys to their testosterone display, she hopped down from the stool and made a beeline for the exit.

She didn't stop once she was outside. She kept walking at a brisk pace, heading her way home like she'd intended. She hadn't gone far when she heard a shout behind her. Now what? If one of those idiots from the club had followed her then somebody was going to get hurt. And it wouldn't be her.

She was just deciding that she'd ignore them and carry on walking when the person shouted out again. "Hey! Dancer girl!"

She knew then that it was Shizuo. She'd never actually told him her name before so that was what he'd always called her. She reluctantly stopped and looked back. She couldn't be bothered with him right now. Even if he had provided her with the chance to escape from the creep at the bar.

"You left your phone on the bar," said Shizuo as he reached her, holding her cell phone out.

"Oh… Thanks," said Ritchie as he handed it to her. She noticed the half smirk on his face and automatically went on the defensive. "What?"

"I never would have pegged you as an Elvis fan," said Shizuo in amusement.

Ritchie froze, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. It was true. She had a secret infatuation with Elvis Presley. There was even a picture of him set as the wallpaper on her cell phone. But her cell phone had a flip top and so he only would have seen it if he'd purposely snooped and opened it.

"What the hell were you doing looking through my phone?" Ritchie demanded angrily.

"Chill out. I didn't look through anything, I only saw your screen," said Shizuo.

Ritchie didn't care. He'd still intentionally opened her phone. Plus she hadn't _wanted_ anyone to see the background on it – what if he started telling people that she had a closet obsession with a dated icon from the 50's? Not to mention she was still wound up from the crappy night she'd had and she'd been itching to take that frustration out on somebody. This was just the last straw.

So without stopping to think about it she released said frustration in the best way she knew how to… By punching Shizuo straight in the face.

Ritchie may have been a little on the small side but she was fit and she packed more of a punch than people would think. Shizuo's nose made a satisfying crack – he may have been super strong but it looked like he wasn't that unbreakable.

She stopped long enough to see Shizuo's shocked expression and a face full of blood behind his fingers before turning on her heels and taking off. He didn't shout after her this time and she didn't stop running until she reached her front door.

XXX

Ritchie was still in a bad mood the following morning. She had a headache, which she didn't think she'd drank enough to deserve, and her hand now really hurt. She may have been stronger than she looked but Shizuo still had a hard face. She could almost swear her knuckles looked like they were starting to bruise.

Since she was on such a downer she didn't feel motivated to do anything. She pulled a giant can of energy drink out of the fridge and spent the rest of the morning lying on her bed and watching junk on TV. She rarely watched TV nowadays – she'd spent far too much time doing so back in Nerima when her choice of activities were pretty limited. Now her TV was only really used for hangovers.

She'd just had a microwavable hamburger for her lunch when a text message came through on her phone. It was from Izaya. She groaned. She really couldn't be bothered with him today. She reluctantly opened the message. All is said was 'Where are you?'

Charming, thought Ritchie. She replied with a message even shorter, simply saying 'In bed.' If he was going to be blunt then so was she.

She got another text a few minutes later saying 'Don't you want to come out and play?' Ritchie rolled her eyes and tossed her phone aside onto the bed. She wasn't going to reply to that. She decided to go and shower instead.

When she'd gotten out of the shower she checked her phone again. No new messages. Good. He obviously wasn't going to push it. She was just towelling her hair dry when her phone then rang. She groaned again. She should have known Izaya wouldn't be that easy to discourage.

She flipped the phone open and put it to her ear. "What?"

"It's not very polite to ignore me, Ritchie-chan," came the condescending reply.

"Ritchie doesn't want to come out and play," said Ritchie scathingly. She'd learnt that he just ignored her whenever she told him not to call her that. She sometimes hoped that talking in the third person may influence him a little more.

"Don't tell me… You're hungover again, aren't you?" asked Izaya, sounding amused.

"Nope. I'm just not in the mood," said Ritchie shortly. "I'm staying right here."

"Then how about I come to you?" suggested Izaya innocently.

Ritchie made a face, eyeing the montage of Elvis posters and cut-outs she had covering her bedroom wall. There was a very good reason she'd never let Izaya actually inside her apartment before. It was bad enough that Shizuo had found out about her secret obsession last night. It wasn't going to happen again any time soon.

She sighed. "Fine, I'll come out. Where are you?"

Izaya laughed. "Now that's the spirit! Why don't you meet me by Russia Sushi? If you're good I may even buy you lunch."

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. He sounded very chipper – what was up with that? "I'll pass; I already ate. And what's up with you? You sound happy today."

"Are you suggesting I'm not normally happy?" mocked Izaya.

"Happy isn't really the word," said Ritchie, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder while she hunted out some clothes. "Messed up is more like it."

"Careful, Ritchie-chan. You might hurt my feelings," said Izaya, pretending to be hurt.

"And hell may freeze over," concluded Ritchie. She'd found out one of her favourite tops – it was all straps and there was no way she could wriggle into it while she was still on the phone. "I've gotta get dressed anyway. I'll see you later."

She hung up without giving him the chance to say anything else. She teamed up her strappy top with a red mini skirt and her newest and completely to-die-for black and red Christian Louboutin heels. If Izaya tried to get her to do any running or climbing today then one of said shoes was gonna end up in his face.

Her hair was still slightly damp. She quickly ran a brush through it and then left it. It would dry while she was outside. She grabbed her bag, locked up the apartment and headed towards Russia Sushi.

Annoyingly, when she got there Izaya was nowhere to be found. What the hell was he up to now? She didn't really feel in the mood to play hide and seek. Simon – big, black and impossible to miss – was standing on the corner outside the restaurant, doing his usual job of trying to convert as many passers-by into paying customers as he could.

"Hey Simon," greeted Ritchie, wandering over to him. The top of her head didn't even reach his shoulder. "Have you seen Izaya anywhere?"

"Ah, Izaya. He was here a minute ago," replied Simon in his thick Russian accent. "I am sorry, Miss Honda. I no see where he went."

Ritchie sighed heavily. Typical. And she'd dragged herself out of bed for this… "Okay, thanks Simon. Just do me a favour? If you do see him then tell him I'm seriously gonna kick his ass."

She heard Simon's booming laugh behind her as she turned round the corner once more and started back towards her apartment. If Izaya wasn't around here now then she wasn't going to waste her time trying to find him. It was his own damn fault.

She hadn't gone very far when somebody all but barrelled into the back of her.

"There you are, Ritchie-chan!" said Izaya brightly, grabbing both of her shoulders to stop her from falling over.

"What the hell's the matter with you? You nearly pile-drove me!" said Ritchie angrily, whirling around and slapping his hands away. "And what do you mean here _I_ am? You're the one who wasn't where you were supposed to be!"

"I'm sorry, Ritchie-chan. I got bored of waiting; I had to find something to do," said Izaya, like it was a perfectly reasonable excuse. He still seemed to be in a ridiculously good mood. It was undeniably creepy.

"Wow, patience really isn't your virtue. It took me all of ten minutes to get here," Ritchie grumbled. "What's up with you anyway – why are you so happy? It's weird; I don't like it."

Izaya just laughed. "You really don't have any idea?"

"Not the foggiest," Ritchie admitted. "So tell me."

"Actually, why don't you tell _me_?" Izaya thrust his hands into his pockets and leant forward so that his eyes were level with hers. "Did you really break Shizu-chan's nose?"

Several things flitted through Ritchie's mind at once. One was how had Izaya heard about it so quickly? She knew he made it his job to know everything that went on in this city but that was fast even for him. Another thought was lingering on the word 'broke'. She knew she'd given Shizuo a nosebleed but she hadn't expected to do any _real_ damage… No wonder her hand hurt so much!

Unfortunately she couldn't decide which of these thoughts to voice first. So what came out of her mouth instead was a very unintelligent-sounding, "Huh?"

Izaya leant back, looking disappointed with her response. "Please don't tell me it's not true. I'll be very disappointed."

"When you say 'broke' you meant absolutely, one hundred percent? Not just a rumour?" asked Ritchie.

"Absolutely, one hundred percent," Izaya confirmed. "Please, Ritchie-chan… You should know me well enough by now to know that I can distinguish between truth and poorly garbled stories."

"Then consider me guilty," confessed Ritchie, holding up her right hand as proof. Her knuckles weren't actually bruised like she'd imagined earlier but they were still noticeably swollen. Now she knew why.

Izaya didn't even have to inspect her hand to believe her. His face split into the widest grin she'd ever seen. He looked uncannily like a jack-o lantern. If any other guy had turned that on her she'd have been running as fast as she could in the opposite direction – high heels or not. But with Izaya she knew she'd given up her chance to run away a long time ago.

But at least she knew now why he was so damn happy.

He was still grinning broadly at her. "You know… I think you may just be my most favourite human of all."

"Lucky me," said Ritchie, who didn't see it as much of a compliment.

Izaya sat down on the wall behind him, watching Ritchie thoughtfully. He seemed to be thinking something over. "You wanted to know more about the Black Rider, didn't you?" He patted the wall next to him. "Why don't you sit down? I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Ritchie snorted. "No thanks. I already know plenty about the Black Rider."

"Oh yeah?" asked Izaya sceptically, looking amused.

"Yeah. I knew _you_ weren't telling me everything," said Ritchie accusingly. "So I decided to find out for myself."

Izaya looked taken aback for a moment, then he laughed. "Well now… You just continue to surprise me, don't you?"

Ritchie shrugged, though she was secretly pleased with herself. Izaya was hard to surprise. "I have that effect on people."

"So let's hear what you've learnt," said Izaya interestedly.

"Why? Surely you know all this already," said Ritchie.

"Just humour me," smiled Izaya. "I want to test you and see just how much you've really managed to find out on your own."

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. "What? Like a pop quiz?"

"It could be fun," said Izaya, still smiling.

That was his answer for everything! "Fine," agreed Ritchie with a sigh. "Shoot."

"What's the Black Rider's real name?"

"Celty Sturluson."

"And where is she originally from?"

"Ireland."

"What about her living arrangements?"

"She lives with an underground doctor called Shinra Kishitani."

"And who does she work for?"

Ritchie narrowed her eyes. "You... Amongst others."

Izaya laughed. "You've really done your homework, Ritchie-chan. I'm impressed. Top of the class!"

"Don't get cute," said Ritchie, annoyed. "Were you ever going to tell me any of this stuff?"

"Maybe," Izaya smirked.

Ritchie rolled her eyes. "New choice."

Izaya laughed again. "And maybe not."

Ritchie gritted her teeth. "Thank you. That's very enlightening. Can I go now?"

"Oh come on, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya, still highly amused. "It's my job to sell information to people. Did you really think I'd make an exception for you because we're friends?"

Ritchie flushed and said nothing. That was exactly what she'd thought. Though he was using the term 'friends' loosely here.

Izaya guessed her answer from her silence and laughed. "You did, didn't you? Well I'll tell you what… Seeing as you've entertained me so much today I'll let you in on something different." He got to his feet. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" asked Ritchie as she followed him, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"You'll see," smirked Izaya, annoyingly cryptic as always.

He led the way through the city without saying anything else. Ritchie was completely helpless in her need to know what on earth he was going to show her – she trailed along after him, highly intrigued.

Even when she followed him into an apartment building and he motioned her towards the elevator, she still had no idea what was going on. They got to one of the top floors and only when Izaya produced a set of keys to open one of the doors did Ritchie realise where they must be.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he said, giving her a mock bow and waving her inside.

"All you wanted to show me was your place?" asked Ritchie, looking around the spacious but fairly plain room.

"Do I sense disappointment?" Izaya acted like he was mortally offended. "After I brought you all this way?"

"Well it's not like I'm the first person to see it. You told me before that you often have clients visit you here," Ritchie pointed out, moving across to peer out through the window.

"True," admitted Izaya, following her over to the window. "So what can you see?"

"A wall," replied Ritchie in a bored tone. There was another tall building directly opposite – preventing the apartment from having a decent view.

"Exactly," said Izaya. "Now come through here…" He didn't give Ritchie the choice – he grabbed her hand and pulled her up the open stairway and through another door. "I can guarantee you no client has ever been in here."

"I should hope not," said Ritchie. They were now in his bedroom. She couldn't help but look around interestedly. It was tidy and still quite plain – nothing at all like _her_ apartment.

"Now look through this window," directed Izaya.

Ritchie allowed herself to be towed over to the window opposite – facing in a different direction to the one in the other room. She looked out and couldn't help smiling to herself. Now that was more like it... You could see everything!

The window had a perfect view of what looked like the very centre of Ikebukuro. Buildings lined either side of the main street. People bustled along in their everyday lives, completely unaware that they were being watched from so high up above.

"Okay, now I get your deal," said Ritchie. "I can see why you take such an interest in everyone else's lives when you have such a perfect spot to watch them from."

"You think that's why I brought you here?" asked Izaya, sounding amused.

"No. To be honest I never have any idea why you do anything that you do," said Ritchie truthfully. "I've just learnt to kinda go along with it."

Izaya chuckled. "You really are an interesting human."

Ritchie ignored him. She never knew how to respond to any of his 'human' comments. She distracted herself with looking out of the window again. "I bet this looks amazing at night with everything all lit up."

"Ritchie-chan… Are you hinting for an invitation to come here at night time?" Izaya said right in her ear in a teasing tone.

"Of course I'm fucking not – don't be stupid!" Ritchie protested, automatically defensive.

"What dreadful language from such a pretty mouth!" Izaya taunted.

"Oh shut up," said Ritchie, rolling her eyes. He could be so intolerable at times. "I'm not above slapping you, y'know."

"Or you'll deck me like you did to Shizu-chan?" Izaya grinned, not at all bothered by her threat.

"If you push your luck I will," insisted Ritchie, though she couldn't help grinning back at the thought. She still couldn't believe she'd broke Shizuo's nose! That would certainly teach him for snooping.

"You can come here at night time if you wish though," Izaya continued. "Or whenever else you like."

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. "So if I'm bored at four o'clock in the morning I can just turn up here?" she said sarcastically.

"Yep," replied Izaya simply.

Ritchie wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. Was this some kind of so-called prize for punching Shizuo in the face? "Why would you be happy for me to just turn up whenever I feel like it?"

"Do you ever listen to a word I say, Ritchie-chan?" asked Izaya with a theatrical sigh.

"Only sometimes," muttered Ritchie.

"You entertain me," explained Izaya, like it was obvious. "Do you know how hard it is to find a human as interesting as you?"

"I'm not entirely sure whether I should be flattered or offended by that…" Ritchie frowned.

"Isn't that part of the fun?" said Izaya brightly.

"No, not really," said Ritchie, partly just to disagree with him.

Izaya gave her a wicked smile, his eyes twinkling. "New choice.

Ritchie scowled at him for using her catchphrase. "I hate you."

Izaya just laughed at her again. "I was right. You really are my favourite human."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Gahhh, I still can't believe the amazing feedback I've been getting! Especially on the last chapter – I'd even been expecting to get bad feedback on that one! Thanks for being so supportive, you amazing people!

Nice longer chapter with plenty of Izaya to make up for the last one =]


	5. Complicating Things

Ritchie was so happy to be out. No work, no other commitments and definitely no Izaya.

Since he'd introduced her to his place she'd been spending far too much time there – easily taking advantage of his offer for her to go up whenever she pleased. She enjoyed being there but at the same time it also annoyed the hell out of her.

Izaya was definitely interesting company and of course interesting was the top quality she looked for in a person. But she hated that he had such a hold on her. She found herself trailing down to his apartment at every spare moment. Even when she was supposed to be catching up on sleep after work she'd still be going there – where she ended up passing out on the couch on more than one occasion.

She even kept a spare pair of Moschino heels there. That definitely wasn't a good sign. The spread of her shoe wardrobe always dictated where she spent most of her time.

It wasn't like she even did much while she was there either. She'd never realised before how much work Izaya did at home. So when he was working, and effectively being boring, she'd while away her time either on her phone or on Izaya's computer. Funnily enough it didn't seem boring like it had back in Nerima. At least now she had more exciting stories to tell.

But it was nice to break away from it for a bit. Ritchie had jumped at the chance when her friend Sei invited her out on a bar crawl with her friends from university.

Ritchie hadn't gone to university herself, but thanks to Sei she'd gotten to experience the best parts of student life. She got the partying side of it and she didn't have to worry about the education part or the tuition fees. It was a win-win situation.

So Ritchie was feeling on a total high by the time they were at the final bar on their list – not to mention more than considerably tipsy. She'd been chatted up several times already and had drank what felt like her body weight in alcohol, so she was feeling pretty upbeat.

She was on the dance floor dancing with Sei and a couple of her student friends, all of whom were much more drunk than she was, when she spotted a very cute dark-haired guy sat over by the bar. Now this was more like it! So far the guys who had chatted her up tonight had all been good-looking but not really her type. This guy definitely fit the bill though.

He was looking in their direction so she smiled at him. He smiled back enthusiastically. That was all she needed.

"Be back in a bit," she told Sei, weaving out of the group and heading over towards the bar. It looked like the night was going to get even better.

XXX

When Ritchie woke up the next day her head was whirling and there was an irritating ringing in her ears. She rolled over with a groan to find a very sound asleep, very naked guy next to her. Huh. She kinda recognised his face… She realised then that she was also naked. No surprise there. This wasn't exactly a common occurrence for her but it wasn't entirely unusual either. She had her own needs to fill after all – she couldn't restrict everything to just the dance floor.

The ringing in her ears seemed to be getting louder and more annoying. She buried her head into her pillow, trying to drown it out, then realised that it was actually her cell phone.

"Are you frickin' kidding me?" she groaned, grasping blinding for her phone which she always kept on the bedside table. When she managed to locate it she flipped it open and held it to her face. "Yeah?"

"You're not still sleeping in, are you Ritchie-chan? I've tried calling you twice already. I'm very bored right now."

Why was Ritchie not surprised as to who her morning caller was? "Yes, I'm sleeping," she said grumpily. "Go find someone else to play with."

"Now you wouldn't be very happy if I did do that, would you?" said Izaya tauntingly. "What if you felt left out?"

"I'm sure I'd get over it. I've never minded sharing," replied Ritchie, her sarcasm only a fraction of what it normally was.

"Well _I_ don't like sharing," said Izaya bluntly.

"Yeah? That's nice," said Ritchie sleepily. She had a feeling he was trying to make a point but she was too tired to try and work it out.

"I heard you brought a stray home last night," continued Izaya, actually sounding just the slightest bit displeased.

Ritchie felt irritated. How had he managed to find out so fast when she'd only found out for herself less than a few minutes ago? She couldn't be bothered to do this right now – she was too tired and too hungover. Why did he care anyway? It wasn't like he was the type to get jealous.

"I don't really think it's any of your business," Ritchie replied shortly.

"Actually I think it is," Izaya disagreed. "I don't like other people playing with my things, Ritchie-chan."

Now _that_ woke Ritchie up. So it wasn't even an emotional attachment – it was just him acting like a selfish child. She felt a surge of annoyance. "I am not your thing! I'm a person. I don't belong to you in any way, shape or form."

"Now this is where you're wrong. I own you, Richelle Honda, and don't you forget that. You already know it's true."

For the first time Izaya wasn't talking in his usual faux friendly tone. Instead he sounded cold and menacing. He was the controller of Ikebukuro and nobody was taking one of his pawns away when it was his game to dominate.

"Who do you think you are; Hades?" said Ritchie, making a lame reference to one of her favourite old Disney movies – something else she had a secret love for. Truthfully she just didn't have a better comeback. "I'm going back to sleep now."

She hung up before he had the chance to say anything else and promptly switched her phone off so that he couldn't call back. Though still annoyed, she was also feeling quite uneasy. Now she could see Izaya the way that people told him – one of the most dangerous men in the city. She'd always known he couldn't be trusted… But she'd never actually felt scared of him before.

"Boyfriend?" Ritchie's new man friend was awake now. He was watching her, appearing completely unconcerned by the issue.

"More like a ball and chain," grumbled Ritchie, burying her face back into the pillow again.

XXX

The next time Ritchie saw Izaya, a couple of days later, it was as if nothing had happened. He met her from her early finish at work in his usual cheery mood.

"Aren't you coming back to my place tonight, Ritchie-chan? You haven't been round in ages," he said reproachfully.

Ritchie didn't point out that it was because the last time she'd spoken to him he'd gotten all weirdly possessive and it had unnerved her. She knew better than to bring it up again. Instead she simply went along with it, though what he'd said about owning her still played on her mind.

So yet again she followed Izaya back to his apartment. He got boring after a while though as he started busying himself with work, so Ritchie distracted herself with his computer. About an hour later her cell phone started ringing. She checked the caller ID – it was Sei. No doubt wanting details about the other night seeing as she hadn't heard from her since then.

As Ritchie answered the call she got up and went through upstairs into Izaya's bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She didn't like people listening in on her phone calls. "Hey Sei, how's it going?"

"I'm alive... I think. I feel like I've had a three-day hangover," Sei complained.

Ritchie smiled. Her own hangover had been bad enough but her friend had been a lot more drunk than she was. "At least you had fun though. Did Arisa and Mena pull in the end?"

"If they did I don't remember…" replied Sei. "I was out of it before we even got to the last bar. But what about you? I heard you picked up a friend."

"Yeah, I found that out for myself the next morning," said Ritchie.

"Oooh, how was he?" asked Sei excitedly. She reproved Ritchie for not having a steady boyfriend and always hoped that the next guy would turn into something permanent.

"To be honest I haven't got a clue. I don't really remember anything," Ritchie admitted. "I don't even know what his name was."

Sei made a sound of disappointment. "You didn't wanna try and arrange to see him again?"

"No, not really," said Ritchie truthfully.

She wondered how Izaya would have reacted if she had. Though she couldn't really tell Sei about that. She hadn't told her anything about her relationship with Ikebukuro's notorious info broker. She knew that Sei wouldn't approve and would tell her to get out while she could. Ritchie wasn't sure if that was even an option anymore…

"Ritch, you there?"

"Oh sorry," said Ritchie quickly, realising she'd been silent for too long. "What did you say?"

"I said you'll have to come with us on the next bar crawl," repeated Sei enthusiastically. "The girls from uni all liked you. Arisa was impressed with your dancing skills."

Ritchie laughed. "Well I should hope so seeing as that's my job! I'd love to do another one though – it was really fun. Thanks again for inviting me."

"You're welcome!" said Sei happily. "And next time we'll find you a guy who's so good that you'll definitely remember!"

Ritchie smiled again. Typical Sei. "We'll see." Her phone beeped at her. "Sei, I'm gonna have to go, I don't have much battery left. I'm glad you've recovered though."

"Amen to that," agreed Sei. "Catch you later, Ritch."

Ritchie tossed her phone aside onto the bed, her thoughts now troubled. Izaya had made a really big issue about the guy the other morning because he'd made it clear he wanted to control her…. Surely that meant he'd be the same with any other guy she hooked up with in the future? Now _that_ was going to bother her. She was a girl. She had her own needs to fulfil.

Feeling grumpy, she went back into the other room. Izaya was sprawled across the couch with his eyes closed – impossible to tell whether he was asleep or not without disturbing him. Most people looked vulnerable when they were asleep. Not him. He just looked angry… _If_ he was even asleep.

Vulnerable. Ritchie rolled the word around in her head. Sometimes Izaya drove her to despair. Other times she almost worshipped him. One thing was for sure – she never _would_ get away from him. Even if she didn't keep willingly going back for more… He'd now made it clear that her contract came with a price. She should have known he wouldn't have kept her around for so long if he intended to just let her leave for free.

The more she thought about the situation the more she hated Izaya for having such a hold on her. And she remembered how she'd actually felt scared of him the other day… That made her mad. She wasn't scared of anyone and she certainly didn't belong to anybody! It made her want to escape from him. But she knew that it was going to be difficult now that she'd had a small glimpse at what she was really dealing with.

She stared at him lying on the couch, looking far from peaceful but still not quite as sinister as usual. Vulnerable… The word came back to her mind. He still wasn't anywhere near that, but right now his defences were definitely down. The infamous intel broker had dropped his guard. A sudden, crazy idea struck her… Would he be easy to take out?

Ritchie moved unthinkingly towards the couch. She put a hand on either side of Izaya's head, taking care not to jostle him, and lifted herself up and onto the couch so that she was straddling him. He still didn't move or give any sign that he was possibly awake.

She placed both hands lightly around his throat. It would be quite easy. The flick blade that he always used was sitting on the table, in plain sight, out of his reach. All she'd have to do was hold him down long enough…

Ritchie frowned to herself. What was she thinking? What was she _doing_? She was used to diving into stupid things without thinking about it but this was rash even for her. Izaya may drive her crazy at times but she would never have considered _killing_ him before. She was just getting too worked up over how he'd reacted the other day and what she'd just figured out from talking to Sei.

Plus she knew that if she did manage to get away with it she'd probably regret it later. Izaya was both her devil and her god.

Izaya didn't open his eyes but he calmly said, "Trying to kill me while I'm defenceless? Don't you think that's playing dirty?"

So he _was_ awake. It figured. "And you'd know all about playing dirty," said Ritchie pointedly, completely unfazed by getting caught.

Izaya chuckled, making no move to push her away. "Touché. So are you still going to try and carry out your evil deed?"

"I'm thinking about it," said Ritchie. She flexed her fingers around Izaya's neck but she knew she wouldn't do it. Even if she thought she was strong enough to hold him down she wouldn't have. She couldn't.

Izaya raised one hand and wove his fingers into her hair. Probably ready to try and pull her off if she decided she was going to choke him after all. "You can be so predictable, Ritchie-chan."

Ritchie felt annoyance flare. She didn't care that he'd caught her out, but she hated that he seemed to find her so predictable. She didn't think she was predictable. Her crazy decision had even surprised her. Izaya liked to think he knew every move she was going to make. She wanted nothing more than to catch him off guard. To do something he completely would not expect.

She removed one hand from his throat and placed it against his shoulder instead. She dipped her head down and licked a long hot line up the side of his neck. His breathing slowed. She was making him think, making him gauge what she was planning to do.

He had no idea.

Ritchie suddenly bit down hard on Izaya's neck. He stiffened and fisted his fingers in her hair. She grinned against his skin. He hadn't been expecting that one. Predictable? Yeah right. Being able to surprise him probably gave her more of a thrill than anything else the city had to offer.

He tasted like salt and spice. She found she wanted to taste him again. She lifted her head so that she could see his face. He was watching her carefully, still not sure of what she was going to do.

"Don't underestimate me," Ritchie whispered, then pressed her lips hard against his.

She achieved her goal. Izaya froze and remained unmoving beneath her. But then somehow, inexplicably, the hand in her hair was pulling her closer and his lips were suddenly moving with hers.

Only then did Ritchie pull away. Damn. _He'd_ ended up surprising _her_. He'd never shown any sexual interest in her before. He'd never actually shown an interest in any woman – it had always seemed to be something that just didn't appeal to him. Was he just playing her at her own game?

She studied him carefully. She'd never really noticed before but he was actually quite attractive in a casual sort of way. It had always been his eccentric personality that she'd been addicted to being around.

But now she was discovering just how soft his dark hair was, how the gaze from his brown eyes – so much like her own – intrigued her in so many different ways, how his permanent half smirk was actually quite sexy as well as wicked, how good his lean body felt underneath her…

Izaya looked amused by her prolonged observation. "Something wrong, Ritchie-chan?"

Ritchie was now highly aware of the position they were in. She wasn't so sure if this was a good idea… Their relationship was confusing enough – without adding a physical attraction to the equation.

But life wasn't interesting without a little complication…

"Just shut up and stop being you for just a little while," said Ritchie, tugging his hair sharply before kissing him again.


	6. Another Game To Play

The next morning Ritchie woke up in her own bed. It wasn't until she'd gotten up and made some breakfast that she remembered what had happened last night.

Damn… What had she been thinking? Like their relationship needed anymore complications. Though she was glad at least that she'd made the smart decision to come home and hadn't gone any further than making out.

She'd wanted to figure out what was actually going on before she did anything else stupid. For all she knew Izaya was just playing her. He'd been willing enough to co-operate last night but he hadn't been particularly bothered by her abrupt departure either. It wasn't a game she really wanted to play.

Plus even she wasn't so much of a slut that she'd sleep with two different guys in the space of a few days.

She wasn't sure what the best plan of action would be. Avoiding Izaya altogether for a little while seemed like the simpler option, but that would look really obvious. She could always just carry on as normal and pretend like nothing had happened, but she was sure that Izaya would ruin that for her too.

Also she wasn't sure if she was even completely in control of herself now. She certainly hadn't intended on starting anything last night. She'd started off wanting to murder him and instead they'd ended up making out. What was up with that?

Ritchie groaned. She'd definitely made things more complicated. She should have stuck to one night stands with strangers from night clubs.

Her cell phone suddenly started to ring, making her jump so that she nearly dropped her half-eaten toast on the floor. She eyed the caller ID warily. Oh great… It looked like she was going to have to face the music sooner than she would have liked. She was tempted to turn her phone off but this _was_ Izaya after all. He'd keep on bugging her until he got what he wanted.

With a sigh Ritchie answered the phone. "What's up?"

"Fancy doing some exploring today?" asked Izaya brightly.

"Exploring?" Ritchie repeated sceptically.

"It's been so boring lately!" exclaimed Izaya dramatically. "There's bound to be something interesting going on _somewhere_. You just have to know where to look."

Ritchie hesitated. It felt like she'd be giving Izaya ample opportunity to make fun of her about the events of last night. But she couldn't help feeling tempted. She'd spent so much time at his place lately, but it had been a while since they'd actually just wandered around the city trying to sniff out anything exciting.

"Yeah okay," Ritchie agreed. "I've gotta shower and get dressed first though. I'll be out in about twenty minutes?"

"Excellent!" replied Izaya happily. "Meet me by Raira Academy."

"Sure," said Ritchie, hanging up.

Great… He sounded like he was in one of those weird happy moods again. She was starting to wish she hadn't answered the phone after all.

XXX

Ritchie felt on edge all morning. She kept waiting for Izaya to say something about the night before but he never did. He was still upbeat and acting as if nothing had happened. Ritchie felt a little grateful for it but she couldn't understand why he wasn't taking the chance to tease her.

Maybe girls came on to him all the time. Maybe he was used to it. Ritchie had a feeling this _wasn't_ true – most girls probably wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot barge pole – but, annoyingly, she felt a little jealous at the idea.

She was distracted from her thoughts by a roar like a lion, not far away. She looked around confusedly, trying to see where the sound had come from, but Izaya had suddenly grabbed her hand and dragged her off in the opposite direction.

It took Ritchie a few seconds to grasp the situation as she tried to keep up – thankfully she was wearing her red Karen Millen boots, which she could run in no problem. Another roar from behind them confirmed that the lion she'd imagined was actually Shizuo.

She'd been so caught up with her thoughts that she hadn't even realised that Izaya had led them down towards the area where Shizuo lived. This was obviously his last resort for not being able to find anything else interesting.

"So this is your idea of exciting?" Ritchie shouted to Izaya as they ran, still trying to keep up. Damn, he was fast... He'd had a lot more practice at running away from Shizuo than she had.

"Of course!" replied Izaya happily. "Are you telling me it isn't yours?"

Ritchie couldn't help but smile. "Maybe it is."

She never would have imagined that one of her new pastimes would include running away from a very pissed-off bartender. It was like running away from the bad guy. Though in this case she realised that Shizuo was probably the good guy and that Izaya and herself were the villains. Well her parents had always told her she had a very warped idea of right and wrong.

Even after Ritchie was sure they'd left Shizuo behind they still kept running. It was very easy to lose track of time while you were running. But as they started to pass more crowded streets she felt herself become more alert, not wanting to crash into anyone or anything.

Unfortunately Izaya didn't seem to have done the same and pulled Ritchie towards the main road just as a car came speeding down. Without stopping to think Ritchie grinded to a halt and grabbed Izaya's arm with her free hand, using both to pull him back with as much strength as she could muster.

Izaya crashed into her, a surprised look on his face. It would have been almost comical if Ritchie hadn't been so angry that he'd almost gotten them both run over. The car zoomed past with its horn blaring.

"What do you think you're doing? Are you stupid?" she cried. "You could have killed us both!"

People around were starting to stare. Ritchie ignored them but she did lower her voice. She didn't understand. Izaya was always so street smart – this was uncharacteristic and also very careless of him.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you to look both ways before crossing the street?" she said sarcastically.

Izaya let go of Ritchie's hand and shook his arm out of her grip, looking disgruntled. "You shouldn't worry so much, Ritchie-chan."

Ritchie flushed. "You wish." He hadn't apologised or even thanked her. Big surprise there. "I'm going home." She stalked off in the direction they'd just come from without a backward glance.

XXX

Ritchie was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. She spent both the afternoon and evening alternating between watching rubbish on TV, needlessly tidying things and checking her cell phone. This only resulted in her getting increasingly annoyed at herself.

What annoyed her even more was that she felt like it should have been a bigger fight for her to get so worked up over. It's almost like a petty lovers' tiff, she thought bitterly to herself.

She proceeded to spending an unnecessary amount of time arranging her collection of stuffed toys on her bed. They were all different-sized variations of a koala-like creature from her favourite old Disney movie, Lilo & Stitch. The movie just so happened to have a lot to do with Elvis too, which was probably the reason Ritchie liked it so much.

This was another reason why she didn't really want people seeing her place. She didn't want anyone to think that she was just a big kid. She was far from being child-like but she still couldn't help her soft spot for her little collection. They'd all been tossed out of her bed from her late night tryst with the guy from the club the other night, so she made sure she put them all back carefully.

This wasn't getting her anywhere. Her mood was just getting worse. She decided she'd go and pay Sei a visit. She still hadn't told her friend anything about Izaya, so she couldn't really complain about the situation, but she knew she'd at least feel better having company.

Grabbing her phone and keys, she went and opened the front door… Only to find Izaya standing there, about to knock. He looked taken aback for a second but his features quickly fell back into his usual smirk. "Were you waiting for me, Ritchie-chan?"

Ritchie took no notice of what he'd said. "What are you doing here?" she asked, still surprised to find him on her doorstep.

"I came to make up," he said cheerfully. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

"Not a chance in hell," said Ritchie, remembering that she was still pissed off at him. She put one hand on the doorway so that he couldn't get past.

"Come on, Ritchie-chan. You've seen my place; it's only fair," Izaya persisted.

"No way," said Ritchie resolutely.

"Your photo's interesting," commented Izaya, looking over her shoulder.

"What photo?" asked Ritchie, confused.

She fell for it and looked back behind her. Before she realised what had happened Izaya had ducked under her arm and into her apartment. Ritchie ran after him, the door falling shut as she let go of it.

"Hey! I didn't say you could come in!" Ritchie protested, grabbing the back of Izaya's coat.

"Aww don't be boring, Ritchie-chan. I only want to look around," said Izaya innocently.

"I don't care! You're breaking and entering," insisted Ritchie.

"Well technically I didn't break anything," Izaya pointed out.

"I'll make up for it by breaking your face," threatened Ritchie, pulling his coat resolutely.

"There's no need to be so mean, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya brightly, pulling his arms out of his sleeves and slipping out of his coat.

Annoyed, Ritchie tossed the coat aside onto the breakfast counter as she watched Izaya disappear down the hallway. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop him. Nobody could stop Izaya Orihara from doing exactly what he wanted.

"I need a drink," Ritchie groaned to herself.

Dreading to think what Izaya was doing in her apartment, Ritchie tried to ignore the fact that he was there and went to look in the fridge. Why was there nothing alcoholic in here? She checked the cupboards. Same story there too.

She even crouched down to look in the cupboard under the sink, but unless she wanted to drink bleach then she was out of luck. Maybe she could find some way to slip Izaya some…

"I'm guessing you like koala bears?"

"What?" Ritchie tried to get up too quickly and banged her head on the underside of the sink. She got up slower on her next attempt, rubbing her head and trying not to look guilty.

"What were you doing down there?" asked Izaya, looking amused.

"Looking for alcohol," grumbled Ritchie. She still couldn't believe that she didn't have a drop in the whole place.

Izaya tutted theatrically. "Alcohol's bad for your health, Ritchie-chan."

"It's a bit late for that," Ritchie snorted. "What did you say before?"

"I was wondering why you had lots of koala bears," said Izaya.

"They're aliens, not koalas," said Ritchie, trying to sound casual about it. She was at least glad that he hadn't commented on her Elvis collection.

"Aliens?" repeated Izaya, grinning.

"Yes, aliens," said Ritchie impatiently. He was wearing that amused look that she always hated if it happened to be aimed at her. "I didn't decide it. He's a character."

That only made Izaya's grin widen. "So would you say these alien toys are important to you?"

Ritchie's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

Izaya just gave her another grin and then skipped off towards the bedroom. Ritchie chased after him. She felt almost like she was dealing with a problematic child.

"You'd better not touch any of my stuff!" she shouted, following Izaya into the bedroom to find him throwing her Stitch toys onto the floor. "Hey! Stop it, I only just sorted them!"

"How do you sleep with all of these taking up your bed?" asked Izaya, inspecting one of them.

Ritchie ignored his question and seized his arm, trying to grab the toy from him. "Give it back!"

"Say please," taunted Izaya, holding it high above his head so that she couldn't reach it.

"Give it!" repeated Ritchie irritably, trying to pull his arm back down to her height.

Izaya just laughed at her. "You'll have to put up a better fight than this, Ritchie-chan."

"How about I just knee you in the balls?" growled Ritchie.

The next thing she knew Izaya had dropped the Stitch toy and pushed her up against the wall. He put both hands on the wall on either side of her so that she couldn't escape, pinning her with his body.

"Now do you really want to do that?" he asked in a low voice, smirking.

Ritchie blew her hair out of her face. He was so close. _Too close_. Even when they'd made out last night their bodies hadn't been this close together. Her breasts were pressed up against Izaya's chest and it was making her feel incredibly hot all over.

"Well? Have I made you speechless, Ritchie-chan?" Izaya teased softly, amused by her prolonged silence.

"Just shut up," said Ritchie, grabbing his face with both hands and kissing him roughly.

She didn't care that she hadn't caught him off guard this time. For all she knew he'd probably planned the whole thing out. But right now Ritchie had one thing on her mind and one thing only. Nothing else was going to matter any time soon.

She placed both hands on Izaya's chest and shoved him back until they hit the bed. She pushed him down onto it and climbed on top of him so that she was straddling his lap.

She tugged at the hem of his shirt. "Off," she ordered.

Izaya gave her his usual amused look but he complied, obediently raising his arms as Ritchie pulled his shirt off. He opened his mouth to say something but Ritchie suddenly crushed her lips against his again. It seemed to be one sure way of shutting him up.

She was glad that she always wore such skimpy tops when it came to situations like this. The black semi see-through one she was currently wearing simply tied together at the front, so she was able to quickly untie and slip out of it without even breaking contact with Izaya's mouth.

Her bra soon followed her top to the floor as Izaya's fingers swiftly unhooked the clasp at the back. His hands slid down her body, his grip bruising against her hips. He pulled the zipper on her skirt down next. Ritchie had to re-position herself across Izaya's lap so that she could finish removing her skirt.

She tossed it aside and went back for Izaya's lips once more but he suddenly flipped her over onto her back and rolled on top of her, pinning her down on the bed with the weight of his body. He grabbed both of her wrists so that she couldn't move.

Ritchie stared up at him in surprise. She'd been in control a few seconds ago… What had just happened?

Izaya smirked at the look on her face. "Don't look so surprised, Ritchie-chan. You're forgetting who's in control here."

Ritchie glared at him but she couldn't really argue against his point when she couldn't even move. Plus she wasn't exactly protesting against the position they were in. Instead she contented herself with grumbling, "Do you ever stop talking?"

Izaya just grinned and bowed his head down to whisper in her ear. His hot breath tickled her skin. "Let's find out, shall we?"

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Those of you from Deviantart have probably seen that I'm on a little hiatus from fanfiction and fanart at the moment so that I can concentrate on my original work. But I've had this chapter half written for a little while now so I just wanted to get this part finished!

Gah. I had way too much fun writing this one! Is it weird that I'm kinda addicted to writing this story? T_T


	7. Condemned

Ritchie woke up the following morning with a migraine already setting in. Groaning in pain, she turned restlessly in her bed. It didn't take her long to realise that she wasn't alone. Oh yeah, it was one of those mornings again… Maybe she _was_ a slut after all.

She reluctantly opened her eyes. Izaya was sound asleep next to her, breathing heavily, a slight frown creasing his forehead. Ritchie would have been interested to see the information broker at his most vulnerable stage if she hadn't felt like she was nursing the hangover from hell.

Sighing, she rolled over onto her front and buried her painful head in the pillow. Hangovers she could deal with. Hangovers she tended to deserve. Migraines just weren't at all fair. If only she could just get back to sleep…

"I'd watch you don't suffocate yourself if I were you, Ritchie-chan. That would be a real shame."

Oh great, Izaya was awake. Ritchie reluctantly rolled back to face him, squinting in the light that was starting to pour into the room from between the blinds. "Right now that'd probably be a blessing."

"Oh don't be like that. Are you telling me you regret last night?" Izaya put on his best hurt voice.

"No. I'm regretting waking up," replied Ritchie, kneading her forehead with her fists in the hope that it would help.

"Well that's no good, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya brightly as he sat up. "Aren't you supposed to live life to the fullest and all that?"

"Just stop talking," moaned Ritchie, now pressing her palms over her eyes. Why was it such a challenge for Izaya to be quiet? Next thing she knew he was pulling her hands away from her face. "For fuck's sake, what do you _want_ from me?"

"I want you to entertain me," said Izaya simply, like it was obvious.

"Well I don't want to entertain you," said Ritchie shortly. "Leave me alone."

"Come on Ritchie-chan, don't be boring," complained Izaya, still tugging on her hands.

"Go away!" said Ritchie more loudly, pulling her hands away. She realised that they were acting like a pair of children but she didn't really care right now.

"Why don't you want to play?" asked Izaya, back to his mock hurt voice.

"I have a migraine," replied Ritchie exasperatedly. It wasn't like she was purposely being awkward.

"You don't feel well?" There was suddenly a hand against her forehead. Izaya didn't look particularly concerned though – he seemed disappointed more than anything.

"I am only human," said Ritchie sarcastically. She didn't care that he wasn't concerned. His cool hand still felt good against her throbbing head. She closed her eyes and put her hand over his as he went to pull away. "Don't… That feels good."

Izaya sighed. "You're so boring, Ritchie-chan."

"Yes, I'm so sorry that my feeling like shit inconveniences _you_," said Ritchie testily.

"Well what am I supposed to do while you're in bed feeling sorry for yourself?" Izaya complained.

"You're a big boy. Entertain yourself," said Ritchie grumpily as Izaya pulled his hand away. "I don't really care what you do; just let me go back to sleep."

She knew that she was effectively giving Izaya consent to stay in her apartment and do whatever he liked. Quite a scary thought… But right now she genuinely didn't care. All she wanted was to go back to sleep. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

She did manage to fall asleep and when she woke up again she was relieved to find that her headache had finally gone. And so, it seemed, had Izaya. Her apartment was completely silent. He'd obviously grown too bored and left.

It had gotten dark whilst Ritchie had been sleeping. She frowned. What time was it? She climbed out of bed and managed to locate her phone on the floor amongst the clothes she'd discarded last night.

Shit! It was almost eight o'clock. She hadn't imagined that she'd sleep for so long! She had just over an hour to shower, get ready and get to work on time.

Ritchie was generally pretty good at getting ready quickly. But getting ready for work always took longer than getting ready just to go out and play with Izaya. She normally didn't care too much about her appearance – only ever her outfit – but for work she had a certain image to keep up. Her job was effectively to be looked at after all.

So she had her usual speedy shower, blow-dried her hair afterwards and actually took some care in taming it once it was dry. She still didn't bother with make-up – she'd never used it in her life. She didn't really understand it. Girls wore make-up to make themselves look pretty. Did that mean they weren't pretty without? Ritchie liked to think that with her that wasn't the case.

After pretty much taking a second shower in her Diesel perfume she put on one of her favourite strappy black tops – the kind that left little to the imagination – along with a red micro skirt that wasn't really worth wearing and her sparkly Gina stilettos. She was good to go.

It was creeping further into Autumn and starting to get colder. This annoyed Ritchie, who despised cold weather. She didn't really have any warm clothing – in her mind warm wasn't flattering – and didn't even own a coat or jacket. She maintained that she'd drop dead before spending money on something that covered so much skin.

She quickened her pace. She'd have to start getting taxis to and from work again when it got even colder. The thought of wasting a good chunk of her wages on transport made her feel grumpy but it was better than the alternative of walking in the cold. And she still refused to buy a coat.

She didn't realise she was being followed until the person was right behind her. She whirled around just as they seized her hand. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who it was.

"What are you doing? Don't sneak up on me like that," griped Ritchie, pulling her hand away.

"You shouldn't be out if you're ill, Ritchie-chan." Izaya tutted theatrically, grabbing her hand again. "Or are you feeling better now?"

"I slept it off. But I can't play now; I'm going to work," replied Ritchie shortly, pulling her hand from his grasp a second time.

"That's okay. I'll come with you," said Izaya brightly, undeterred and trying to catch Ritchie's hand again.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" asked Ritchie. His incessant attempts to grab her hand were bothering her.

"Hold your hand. Isn't that what couples do?" said Izaya with what may have been an innocent look if it had been on the face of anybody else.

Ritchie stopped dead in her tracks so that Izaya almost bumped into her. "Excuse me?" She glared at him. "We are _not_ a couple."

"That's a bit harsh, Ritchie-chan. You're going to hurt my feelings rejecting me so coldly like that," said Izaya, pretending to pout.

Ritchie continued to glare at him. "You don't _have_ feelings."

"There we go. You're breaking my heart, Ritchie-chan," mocked Izaya, playfully clutching his chest.

Ritchie rolled her eyes and turned away to continue on her course. "Grow up." But he grabbed her hand for what felt like the millionth time and pulled her to a stop again. "What now?"

"Don't you _want_ to go out with me, Ritchie-chan?" asked Izaya with a look of mock sorrow.

"I'd rather bang Shizuo," replied Ritchie cuttingly.

She knew instantly that she shouldn't have said that. Izaya suddenly grabbed her by the chin and jerked her face up at a painful angle, forcing her to look him in the eye. All of his normal cheeriness had vanished.

"I'll pretend you didn't say that," he said dangerously, an angry glint in his eyes. "You should know that it'd be best for you if you played by my rules."

Ritchie probably should have been scared of him at this point. But it was too late – they'd broken that barrier last night. Though at the same time she wasn't stupid… She was definitely still wary of him. She knew that bringing his mortal enemy into it – even if she didn't really understand the dispute between the intel broker and the bartender – was a little below the belt, but she didn't feel much regret. She'd never really been one for playing it safe.

"What are you trying to pull? You don't _want_ a relationship," Ritchie said accusingly. She knew it was true. There was a look in his eyes that showed he had some twisted, ulterior motive in this. Like he always did.

"Who says I'm trying to pull anything?" asked Izaya.

"It's you. You're always trying to pull something," Ritchie pointed out frankly.

"Well maybe it's something you don't need to know," said Izaya. When Ritchie just continued to glare at him he let go of her chin and his expression calmed, returning to his usual jovial manner. "So what do you say? Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Every fibre of Ritchie's body seemed to be screaming at her to say no. That made sense. She didn't want Izaya to be her boyfriend. She didn't want a boyfriend, period. Relationships were a hassle that she hadn't found appealing in a long time – she preferred her freedom much more.

But Izaya had made it clear that it would potentially be worse for her to say no. And, worryingly, a small voice in the back of Ritchie's head – the same voice that had made her join Izaya on the rooftop the first day they'd met; that had encouraged her to run off with him on their second encounter; that had pushed her into some kind of fatal attraction with him – was telling her that she would never find a more interesting partner.

"Fine," said Ritchie grudgingly. She wasn't even going to comment on Izaya's use of the word 'want'. What she wanted didn't really seem to be in her hands anymore.

Izaya clapped his hands together, delighted. "Excellent! This'll be fun!"

"Yeah… _Fun_… That's exactly what I was thinking," said Ritchie, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

"There's no need to be rude, Ritchie-chan," replied Izaya, though as usual he didn't seem remotely offended. He ruffled her hair in a way that was more patronising than affectionate. "You should be happy!"

Ritchie gave him a murderous look. "Do that again and I'll break your fingers."

Izaya sighed. "So violent… Are you going to abuse me in this relationship, Ritchie-chan?"

"If I can get away with it," said Ritchie, only half joking.

"So you're not going to play the good little housewife?" Izaya grinned mockingly.

Ritchie snorted with laughter. "Housewife? You've _got_ to be kidding."

"I'm only being realistic, Ritchie-chan. Isn't that supposed to be the social convention for women?" goaded Izaya, making to tousle her hair again.

Ritchie slapped his hand away. She knew he was being purposely sexist just to annoy her but that didn't mean that it wasn't working. "If you make any kind of 'woman in kitchen' joke then I swear…"

Izaya just laughed, cutting her off. "I wouldn't dream of it, Ritchie-chan. Besides, I have a feeling you'd be a terrible cook."

Ritchie glowered at him. "Like hell I am!"

"Well make up your mind, Ritchie-chan. You're either a bad cook or you belong in the kitchen. Your choices are pretty limited," said Izaya with an exaggerated shrug.

"I don't belong anywhere," said Ritchie hotly.

"You don't even think you belong with me?" asked Izaya innocently.

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. "Too cheesy. New choice."

"Where does this whole 'new choice' thing even come from?" Izaya enquired, amused.

Ritchie just sighed. This conversation was going on too long for her liking. "You're gonna make me late for work."

"How about you promise to tell me another time then?" suggested Izaya. He stepped aside and swept his arm out, gesturing that her path was clear.

"You're going to let me pass free of charge?" asked Ritchie sarcastically.

"For now," said Izaya simply, smirking like he knew something that Ritchie didn't – which was almost certain to be true.

"Right…" said Ritchie uncertainly. It sounded like something she'd end up paying for later. But, catch or no catch, she really did have to get going if she didn't want to be late. "I'll see you around then."

She continued on her way, glancing back over her shoulder. Izaya was still stood there with his hands in his pockets, watching her walk off. Damn… A boyfriend? The concept alone was horrifying enough – not to mention the fact that it was none other than Ikebukuro's notoriously sadistic information broker.

Ritchie sighed to herself. _Now_ what had she gotten herself into…

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Kinda short chapter… But it would have dragged on for too long if I'd added on the next scene I have planned T_T

I'm thinking of doing some one-shot side stories to this too… I have quite a few ideas that aren't really a main part of my plotline so they'd look kinda random in the middle of future chapters. Thoughts on this? You reviewers are the best so I'd definitely like to get your opinions! =D

Thanks again for the continued support! Virtual cookies to whoever understands the repeated 'new choice' reference! 3


	8. Twisted Arrangements

Quick author's note before you read on (longer note at the end). I've had to up the rating on this due to popular demand for a real sex scene xD So enjoy!

**XXX**

Ritchie fell back into a routine lifestyle. It was fairly similar to the last one she'd followed, spending most of her time with Izaya – only now it often ended up with them making out and then occasionally leading up to sex.

She sometimes wondered if the attraction was as mutual as she'd thought. Whereas Izaya was generally quite compliant with their physical activities she always seemed to be the one who was instigating them. She felt like this should have bothered her but it didn't. She was getting what she wanted out of the deal. And Izaya didn't seem to have any complaints either.

Their newest 'arrangement' came with a few grievances. Some of the smaller ones being that Izaya was constantly trying to hold her hand and now seemed to think he had the right to keep messing with her hair. This annoyed Ritchie because she knew they were little things he had no interest in. He had some other motive for every move he made and Ritchie was pretty sure that his primary purpose was just to infuriate her further.

A bigger annoyance came about when Sei invited Ritchie out to a nightclub with a group of her friends. Ritchie had happily agreed to it – the last time she'd been out, not including the club she worked at, had been on the bar crawl. She'd concluded that this was far too long ago. Izaya had been taking up too much of her time.

So far she'd had three and a half different guys try to dance with her (the one only half counted because he was so drunk he'd then tried it on with another guy immediately afterwards). This had been awkward to deal with.

She wasn't the most sensitive of girls but she still didn't agree with cheating. Although her relationship with Izaya was hardly an emotional one it was still official whichever way you looked at it. And grinding with some random guys definitely counted as cheating in her opinion.

But it was hard to give these guys a reason to get rid of them in front of Sei – especially since the first two had been really cute – when she still hadn't told her friend a thing about her new boyfriend. She knew that she wouldn't approve. The only thing she'd ever told her about Izaya was from when they'd first met, at which Sei had firmly told her to stay away from him.

Yet funnily enough Sei seemed to be her saviour tonight. Every time some guy had tried dancing with her Sei had either forced her way into the middle or had pointedly dragged her off to the bar.

It was almost as if she knew Ritchie wasn't looking to pull anyone. Ritchie was grateful and didn't question it. If she did she was sure that she'd still end up having to explain why she didn't want any new dance partners.

While they were finishing off their next drinks at the bar Sei was busy texting someone on her phone. "Do you fancy moving onto Pulse after here? Reita's out with some of his friends; he said they could meet us there if we like."

"Sure," agreed Ritchie. Reita was Sei's boyfriend and a hilariously bad dancer. "Sounds like a laugh!"

However, after moving onto the next club and meeting up with Reita's group everything suddenly became very clear. Sei, Reita and most of his group abruptly made excuses and disappeared off to either the smoking area or the bathrooms, leaving Ritchie alone at the bar with one of Reita's friends.

"So you're Ritchie, right?" he asked. "I'm Hanabusa."

Of course, Ritchie thought to herself. Sei was setting her up. That explained why she'd been unwilling to let any other guys near her tonight. She'd already had this planned out. Fantastic… It wasn't like Ritchie could hold it against her friend or this Hanabusa guy either. As far as they knew she was still available.

Annoyingly Sei had gotten Ritchie's type down to a tee. The guy was tall and quite lean with unkempt black hair, dark eyes and a smile that had undoubtedly broken a few hearts already. If Sei had introduced them sooner then Ritchie would have been perfectly happy with the situation.

The worst thing was that she couldn't seem to keep herself from comparing this guy to Izaya. They were both cut from the same build, his hair was virtually the same though maybe a little longer, his eyes were similar to Izaya's, his smile… well Izaya's wicked smirk had probably broken more rules than hearts, but there were definitely still more similarities than Ritchie would have liked.

Did that mean Izaya had been her type all along without her even realising it? Well she knew for certain she'd never tell him that. He didn't need anymore ammo to use on her.

"Yep, that's me," replied Ritchie, resisting the urge to add 'unfortunately'.

Now she was going to have to try and keep the conversation away from the fact that Sei was trying to match-make them. If she had to tell Hanabusa that she already had a boyfriend he would no doubt think she was lying, seeing as Sei was sure to have already told him that Ritchie was single.

Luckily Ritchie managed to keep the subjects of work and favourite clubs going until Sei returned – no doubt to see if her plan was running smoothly.

"You guys having fun?" she asked brightly. "I'm not interrupting, am I? Why don't you guys go and dance and I'll find Reita and the others!"

Highly unsubtle, as always. Ritchie sighed. "Actually Sei, I have something to tell you…" She turned to Hanabusa. "I'm sorry but I already have a boyfriend."

Urgh, she didn't even like saying it. She decided from now on she'd avoid using the b-word. Sei looked completely shocked whereas Hanabusa seemed sceptical. She was right – she knew he'd think it was just an excuse. But she was bagging on Sei's reaction for confirmation.

Her friend didn't disappoint. "Since when?!"

"Erm, I'm not sure…" said Ritchie truthfully, thinking it over. It was hard to tell – her days had seemed so mashed together lately. "About three… or four weeks ago maybe."

Damn. Had it really been a whole month? That was a scary thought. She generally didn't do long-term.

"So is this true or is this just an excuse you cooked up because you didn't like the look of me?" asked Hanabusa bluntly. He didn't seem particularly bothered by the idea but he still looked dubious.

"It's true. I may be a lot of things but funnily enough I'm not much of a liar," confessed Ritchie.

"So it's fine if I go and work my magic elsewhere?" enquired Hanabusa.

Ritchie shrugged. "Go nuts."

"Great. Well it was nice meeting you I guess." Hanabusa gave Ritchie a last parting wave before disappearing amongst the thicket of people on the dance floor. It was a shame really… He was very up front. Ritchie liked that.

She was then left with her friend, who she knew was going to start asking questions. "Plan failed," she said teasingly, in a poor attempt to distract her.

"Never mind that!" Sei waved the comment away impatiently. "Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend? Who is he?"

Ritchie sighed. "Okay, okay. Just try not to judge me _too_ much, alright?"

But before she could explain she heard somebody shout, "Ritchie-chan!"

You have _got_ to be kidding me, Ritchie thought as she whirled around. Sure enough, Izaya was making his way over to them with a huge grin split across his face.

"What are you doing? Are you _following_ me?!" Ritchie accused.

Nobody had timing that good, unless they were a movie character. Even Izaya wouldn't have been able to time it like that without keeping tabs on where she was. Talk about an invasion of privacy…

"Of course not; this is merely a coincidence," said Izaya airily, casually slinging his arm around Ritchie's shoulders.

"Of course it is," Ritchie echoed, rolling her eyes.

Izaya ignored her and turned his gaze upon Sei, who looked completely lost by the situation. "You must be Seika Ueda. I've heard so much about you!"

"Really? I'm not sure I can say the same," replied Sei.

This was one of the things Ritchie liked about her friend. Sei wasn't quite as blunt as she was but some of Ritchie's attitude had definitely rubbed off on her lately.

"Oh, please forgive me. I'm Izaya Orihara – Ritchie's boyfriend," Izaya introduced.

He was being the figure of politeness – much in the same way as when he'd first met Ritchie. Ritchie rolled her eyes again. It was a complete farce. How could he expect anyone to buy that?

The politeness rolled right over Sei in particular. Her eyes narrowed. "Actually I _have_ heard about you."

"You sound disapproving," noted Izaya. He seemed positively delighted by it.

Ritchie elbowed him hard in the side. "Leave her alone," she said warningly. She didn't want her friend to become involved in this.

"There's no need to be so violent, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya ruefully, pulling his arm away and rubbing his ribs.

"Just go and wait for me by the door," said Ritchie with a sigh. She knew she wouldn't be able to just get rid of him. And from Sei's response she had a feeling that her friend didn't want him around.

Thankfully Izaya obliged and disappeared again. As soon as he was out of sight Sei rounded on Ritchie. "Are you freaking kidding me, Ritch? That guy's seriously bad news – what are you thinking?!"

"I know, I know, I've heard plenty of stories…" Ritchie started but Sei cut across her.

"Did you know he once convinced a colour gang to attack one of Reita's friends because he was getting pally with Shizuo? He was in such bad shape that he ended up in hospital!"

Ritchie wasn't particularly shocked by this. She'd already heard plenty of similar stories regarding Izaya. The thing that was scaring her was that she wasn't really that bothered about it. These stories weren't anything to do with her.

When Ritchie didn't reply Sei continued. "Reita will kill him if he sees him here. He was really cut up when Fuji got hospitalised."

Ritchie shrugged. "Well if Izaya gets himself into trouble then that's his own fault."

"I told you to stay away from him," Sei sighed, bothered by her friend's blasé attitude. "What are you playing at?"

"I don't really know," confessed Ritchie. "It all escalated so fast… But I'm actually okay with it. He pisses me off a lot of the time but we have a good arrangement going on." She wasn't going to admit that to _him_ though.

"Arrangement?" Sei raised her eyebrows.

"Relationship… Whatever you wanna call it," said Ritchie with another shrug.

"Sounds twisted if you ask me…" Sei muttered. "So does that mean you guys have sex and everything?"

"What do you think?" Ritchie said pointedly. Surely her friend already knew the answer to that.

Sei still looked appalled by the idea. She then lowered her voice, as if she didn't want to ask the next question. "Listen, I don't want you to get too deep into this… You're not… in love with him or anything, are you?"

Ritchie stared at her in amazement. The idea was so absurd that she almost laughed. "Bitch, please…" she said jokingly to try and lighten her friend's mood. Sei wasn't laughing though. "You already know I'm not the type to 'fall in love' with anyone… And certainly not with anyone like him at any rate."

Sei seemed a little happier with that answer but she still looked troubled. "Man, I just really don't get you… Aren't you afraid of him? He's done some really twisted things to people."

"Not really," replied Ritchie. She may have been once before but that was out the window now. "I don't think I'll ever get away from him though… Even if I tried."

"You're such an idiot," said Sei, shaking her head. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I can take care of myself," said Ritchie a little stiffly. She'd been able to handle Izaya so far.

"I'm gonna go and see where Reita and the others are," decided Sei, abruptly changing the subject. She seemed bothered by Ritchie's words. "I take it you're leaving with _him_?"

Ritchie bit her lip. "He'll probably stick around here if I don't."

"Right. I guess I'll see you around then," said Sei vaguely, leaving Ritchie standing at the bar on her own.

Ritchie sighed. She didn't really blame her friend for acting off, especially after what she'd just been told. Damn Izaya… Why had he had to turn up now? He probably just thought it was all in good fun.

"You have really shitty timing," she told Izaya when she found him by the entrance of the club.

"Does your friend not think I'm a suitable boyfriend for you?" asked Izaya, feigning taking offence.

"Can you blame her?" said Ritchie pointedly. "Why did you follow me here?"

"I was bored," said Izaya simply. That seemed to be his excuse for everything.

"Can you not function on your own?" Ritchie asked exasperatedly.

"Of course I can. In case you haven't noticed I was doing just fine before you came along," replied Izaya.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," grumbled Ritchie, feeling nettled.

"Don't be silly, Ritchie-chan. You know how much I enjoy having you around," said Izaya cheerfully. "You are my favourite human after all."

Ritchie sighed, ignoring his twisted compliment. "Can we just go now?"

"You don't wanna stay and dance or anything?" asked Izaya, looking disappointed.

"No, I'm not really in the mood," said Ritchie. The disapproving look Sei had given her was still on her mind.

Izaya sighed too. "You're being boring. Will you at least come back to my place rather than yours?"

"Yeah, whatever," agreed Ritchie indifferently. "Let's just go."

XXX

Her mood didn't improve. Izaya quickly grew bored with her and ended up doing work instead, which left Ritchie to lie on the couch staring at her phone and hoping to receive a message.

She knew Sei was only looking out for her but she still didn't like that her friend was so disapproving of her. She'd never realised just how much Sei's friendship meant to her… She was probably the only person she trusted in this city.

Thanks to Izaya it was now likely to put a strain on said friendship. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd done it on purpose… To try and isolate her from her other friends.

Whether it was true or not (and she definitely wasn't going to put it past him) Ritchie decided she was going to try and make some more friends in Ikebukuro. The situation was making her realise that she could do with some more friends here, especially if Sei ended up not wanting to be around her.

"Are you going to mope all night, Ritchie-chan?" Izaya complained, watching her over the top of his computer. "It's not the same when you're not threatening me every ten minutes."

"You could be a bit more supportive, y'know," grumbled Ritchie, still holding up her phone and staring at it. "My only real friend here is pissed off at me because of you."

He didn't say anything for so long that she thought he wasn't going to answer her. But then she suddenly realised that he was standing right next to the couch, looking down at her. "What about me? Don't you count me as a friend, Ritchie-chan?"

"No," said Ritchie flatly, returning her attention to her phone. "I have no idea what I'd count _you_ as."

Izaya took the cell phone out of her hand – who glared at him but made no move to retrieve it – and placed it on the table, out of her reach. "What about a lover?" he asked with his usual leer.

Ritchie pulled a face. He just made it sound creepy. "I don't like that either."

Izaya sighed theatrically and in one abrupt movement he had suddenly climbed astride Ritchie, straddling her waist. "Well like it or not, Ritchie-chan, that's how it is."

Ritchie couldn't help but feel her interest escalate. Izaya had never really initiated anything before – he'd always just submitted himself to all of her sexual instigations. Did that mean the attraction was more mutual than she'd originally thought?

She grasped at his sleeves to try and pull him down towards her. He obediently bent forwards and pressed his lips against hers. Ritchie deepened the kiss, running her tongue across his lips, all the while pulling him closer so that he all but collapsed against her.

In seconds she'd pulled Izaya's shirt off and her own quickly followed it into a pile on the floor, along with her bra. She was just unzipping his jeans when there was a peculiar jingling noise. It took her a few seconds to realise that it was Izaya's cell phone.

She groaned in exasperation and slumped back on the couch as Izaya sat up and answered his phone. "Hello? Ah, the Blue Squares? Yes, I think I may have some information on them for you…"

Before Izaya could even react Ritchie had snatched the phone from him and meaningfully told the caller, "Actually he's busy." She then clicked the off button and tossed it aside, where it clattered onto the table next to her own cell phone.

Izaya stared at her, taken aback for a few seconds, before his expression turned dark. He casually wove his fingers into Ritchie's hair, then pulled a little harder than he normally would have done. "Did you just cost me a client, Ritchie-chan?"

Ritchie knew he hated her trying to take control from him… But that didn't mean she was going to stop trying. "Well they did just interrupt us," she said pointedly, unfazed by the dangerous tone his voice had taken on. His mood swings were starting to become tiresome, rather than intimidating. "If they want you that bad they'll call back."

Izaya regarded her carefully, his fingers still fisted tightly in her hair. Eventually he conceded and gave her his customary wicked smile. "You're lucky I find you so interesting."

Ritchie took this to be a confirmative answer and went back for the waistband on his jeans. With his help she managed to pull them off, followed by his boxers. It didn't take much longer for her to lose her skirt and her own underwear.

She locked her arms around Izaya's neck so that he had no choice but to bow his head back down to hers. She pushed her tongue against his mouth, begging for entry. He obediently parted his lips and her tongue slipped past them, exploring the inside of his mouth.

Whilst Ritchie was busy tasting him Izaya was positioning himself above her, pressing his hardness against the now warm spot between her legs. They hadn't bothered with condoms. Ritchie had had the rod installed in her arm a few years back so she didn't have to worry about the thought of pregnancy. She was quite negligent when it came to the possibility of STDs – the fact that she hadn't caught anything yet lulled her into a false sense of security.

Ritchie pulled her legs up on either side of Izaya's hips, her arms still locked around his neck. The movement pulled him even closer and she felt herself burn with desire. She nipped eagerly at his bottom lip as he covered her body with his own, propping himself up on his elbows.

But he still withheld from entering her, which brought her desire to a boiling point. The need became almost painful. "Stop teasing me," she whispered harshly, running her hands across his shoulders and still trying to press him closer to her.

Izaya smirked against her lips. "You're so impatient, Ritchie-chan."

"Don't make me bite you," threatened Ritchie impatiently.

Izaya grinned. He didn't look like he believed her. "Is that a threat, Ritchie-chan? You can be so violent sometimes…"

"And don't you forget it," said Ritchie, nuzzling her face down along the side of his neck.

Izaya hesitated, obviously not expecting her to be so affectionate, then she sank her teeth into the soft skin just above his collarbone. He jerked in surprise, his hips ground against hers.

Ritchie grinned to herself. Had she found something that could provoke a reaction from him? She ran her nails down his back in sharp lines. A groan escaped Izaya's lips. Of course… The sadistic bastard liked pain.

She dragged her nails even further down his back, digging them in harder, then without warning Izaya suddenly bucked his hips and pushed himself deep inside her. Ritchie gasped and arched her back up towards him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, forcing him in even further.

She continued to claw at Izaya's bare back as he thrust into her, feeling the pressure build up deep inside. He sighed with satisfaction as she dug her nails in deep enough to draw blood. She ran her hands up along his back again and then wound them into his hair, pulling his face towards hers so that she could kiss him again.

It was getting harder to focus now with the sensations that were running through her body. Izaya's was breath was hot, mingling with hers, as this time he pushed his tongue into _her_ mouth. Ritchie groaned happily. She pulled at his hair, rocking her hips against his as he pumped himself into her.

She could feel her need reaching breaking point. She dug her fingers into Izaya's scalp – his breath now coming in short bursts as she still covered his mouth with kisses and teeth marks. He gave one final, hard thrust inside her and everything seemed to break.

A half groan, half cry escaped Ritchie's throat as shockwaves of pleasure shot through her body. Izaya collapsed on top of her, gasping as his seed spilled into her. Once the tremors calmed she ran her hands against his now sweaty back, vaguely fingering the welts she'd scored with her nails.

"Okay… Maybe I am happy to call you my lover…" she eventually admitted between breaths, burying her face in his damp black hair.

Izaya managed a throaty chuckle. "If only I could always get you to agree with me this easily…"

Ritchie wound her arms around him properly. Her eyelids felt heavy as fatigue started to claim her. "Feel free to try…"

XXX

Ritchie was roughly woken up the following day by somebody shaking her shoulder. She tried to roll over and found herself entangled in sheets. Confusion clouded her tired mind – she could barely even remember making it to the bed.

"What is it?" she grumbled, stifling a yawn.

She opened her eyes to find Izaya standing over her, wearing nothing but jeans. He looked disgruntled. "I've got to go and meet a client," he told her shortly.

"Oh… Can I at least shower first?" Ritchie asked.

"No. I've got to be there in twenty minutes."

Ritchie sighed. The walk of shame it was. She reluctantly sat up, looking for her clothes. She then remembered they were down in the living room. "What's up with you?" she asked. "Why are you so grouchy?"

"I'm hardly going to make a good impression looking like this," replied Izaya, still sounding annoyed.

Ritchie was just about to ask him what he was supposed to look like but then she really looked at him and suddenly understood what he meant. There were dark purple teeth marks just below his neck – they stood out vividly against his pale skin.

Ritchie bit back a laugh. With the low-necked shirts he always wore he wouldn't be able to hide it, even wearing his coat over the top. "Well you weren't complaining about it last night."

Izaya just made a non-committal noise and didn't say anything. Of course he was going to blame her for it. As he turned away Ritchie noticed thin red scratches stretching down the length of his back. She smiled to herself. There weren't many people who could say they'd left a physical mark on the infamous info broker…

And she was very much looking forward to doing so again.

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Super long chapter is super long! And that's officially the first sex scene I've ever done so I apologise if it's a bit shoddy. I originally wasn't going to write a full one but people kept complaining about me cutting the last one short xD

As you can see I have some openings for new characters in the story. I could just invent more myself but I'd like to think it could be more fun if some of you have characters involved too. Now I don't want the trouble I've had with accepting OCs for my Soul Eater fic so my rules are gonna be stricter this time.

I'm only going to accept characters from faithful readers of the story. It doesn't matter if you've been reading from day one or if you've only just discovered the story today – as long as I can see that you really have read it properly. If you are interested then PM me and I'll tell you what I need to know.

I want detailed and realistic characters. I'll also state now that your character will not have a seriously major part – at most they will have a similar part to what Sei's had so far. It depends on how well they fit into the story. If I really like your character they'll recur more often.


	9. A Chance For Freedom

It felt like someone had upped the temperature on Ritchie and Izaya's relationship. The sexual activities were happening more and more frequently now and Ritchie found she was spending nearly all of her time with Izaya. It was insane. She was once again totally addicted to being in his company.

Izaya seemed perfectly happy with their arrangement. Whenever Ritchie attempted to branch off and socialise with other people a bit more he'd find some way to reel her right back in. At times Ritchie didn't even care about this. As long as he gave her whatever else she wanted she was more than happy to be at his side.

But another side of her felt the need to rebel. Unbeknownst to Izaya she'd started to widen her social circle – taking the time to talk to some of the other girls at work more, getting into contact with some of Sei's friends who had been on the bar crawl, arranging meet-ups with new penpals she'd been making on a website for a new gang called the Dollars that she'd joined not so long ago…

She felt smug that she could pull this off right under his nose and she liked that she was doing things of her own that he wasn't involved in. It all just depended on how long she could pull it off for.

Though over the next few weeks she was starting to wonder if Izaya did suspect something after all – he seemed to be keeping a tighter hold on her than ever. He was now meeting her from work after every shift, no matter how late she finished.

Ritchie had been testing the limits a little, chilling at the bar for an extra hour after her shift had ended the one night, but when she did eventually leave Izaya was still there waiting for her.

"Some people might think you're a stalker," she pointed out. How long had he even been out here?

As he so often did, Izaya ignored her comment. "You smell of alcohol."

"Well yes. That's what happens when you've been drinking," said Ritchie sarcastically.

"Don't you worry about your health, Ritchie-chan?" asked Izaya with mock concern.

"No," said Ritchie flatly.

Izaya just grinned – finding her attitude to be highly amusing, as he always did. "So are you coming back to my place?"

"Do I have a choice?" Ritchie countered.

Izaya gave her his best feigned hurt expression. "Of course you have a choice. You don't have to act like I'm the big bad villain all the time."

Ritchie rolled her eyes. The world would probably end the day Izaya actually gave her a real answer. But the longer they stood outside the colder she was. And Izaya's place was closer than hers. With Ritchie's extreme dislike for the cold it definitely sounded like the better option.

"Fine, I'll go with you," she agreed.

"Excellent," said Izaya happily, proceeding to taking hold of her hand as they started off.

Ritchie sighed, half-heartedly attempting to pull her hand away. "That doesn't mean you have to hold my hand."

"I'm trying to be nice here, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya, seemingly entertained.

"Nice doesn't suit you," Ritchie commented.

Izaya grinned. "Does that mean you want me to be bad instead?"

"No, I just want you to be normal. I know that's a stretch for you but you can at least try," said Ritchie cuttingly.

Izaya just chuckled. He still didn't let go of her hand. With another sigh, Ritchie grudgingly gave up trying to pull away. In truth it wasn't actually that bad. At least his hand was nice and warm – as opposed to how hers always seemed to run on cold blood.

Unfortunately, though it was closer, Izaya's apartment was nowhere near as warm as hers was. He didn't seem to like investing much in the way of central heating. When they got there Ritchie grumpily huddled into a corner of the couch, seeing as Izaya had now distracted himself with work again.

"Why are you always so insistent for me to come here when you're just gonna work?" she asked dryly, playing with her cell phone without much enthusiasm.

"Because I enjoy your company so much," Izaya replied with a hint of sarcasm. Her constantly cynical attitude seemed to rub off on him a little at times.

"It just seems pointless me being here when you're not even paying attention to me," continued Ritchie grouchily.

Izaya turned round in his chair, his trademark grin plastered across his face. "Are you feeling put out, Ritchie-chan? Do you _want_ me to pay more attention to you?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that," said Ritchie testily. "I just don't see the point of me being here."

"You've very moody tonight," observed Izaya, positively entertained by the idea.

"It's because your place is so fucking cold," grumbled Ritchie.

Izaya tutted. "Such terrible language. I'll have to wash your mouth out with soap."

"Try it and I'll break your fingers," threatened Ritchie.

Luckily Izaya seemed to heed her warning and didn't bother her further. She'd just returned her attention to her phone when something dropped onto her head. She looked round in surprise, unaware that Izaya had even left his seat.

He was standing over her, looking expectant. "_Now_ will you stop complaining?"

Ritchie pulled at the thing he'd thrown on her and realised it was his coat. "Deal," she agreed, drawing it around her more tightly.

Satisfied, Izaya went back to his work whilst Ritchie huddled up in his coat. They'd been back at his place for about an hour now and he'd taken his coat off as soon as they'd got there, but it was still warm. Ritchie fell into a doze, not feeling quite so grumpy anymore.

She was woken up quite abruptly by her phone vibrating on her lap. She felt disorientated for a few moments before remembering where she was. She glanced across the room – Izaya was still sat at his computer and didn't seem to have realised that she'd been quiet for a while. He'd probably been grateful for it.

She clicked onto the message she'd received, rubbing her eyes. It took her a while to process what it said. '_Want to meet me tomorrow before work?_'

Only then did she look at the sender's name and her heart gave a happy leap when she saw it was from Sei. She'd even put her usual two x's at the end. She hadn't heard from her since the last time they'd gone out. Maybe she wasn't mad at her after all!

Ritchie hurriedly texted back a quick reply. '_When and where_?'

Sei didn't take long to respond and Ritchie happily agreed to meet her at a café near Sei's work at nine o'clock. She checked the time – it was nearly half past one. The café Sei wanted to meet at was just round the block from her apartment. She'd have a much better chance of getting there on time if she was sleeping at her own place tonight.

"I'm gonna go," she reluctantly announced. She didn't really fancy going back out into the cold but if she stayed here she'd have to get up even earlier to get to the café.

It was one of the rare occasions that Izaya looked genuinely surprised. No matter how little Ritchie actually did while she was hanging around at his place she'd never up and left before. As much as the fact annoyed her, she was too addicted to being around him.

"You're not _that_ bored, are you?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"No, I've got something to do tomorrow morning," replied Ritchie, making sure she kept her answer vague. She still didn't want her friend to end up involved with the intel broker in any way.

Izaya's eyebrows rose even higher. He knew she wasn't quite telling him everything. But if Ritchie was right then she knew he'd prefer to find it out for himself. He was good at snooping after all, seeing as that was a key part of his job.

Sure enough, he just gave a casual shrug. "Suit yourself."

Ritchie was pleased that he wasn't going to push for more information. She wanted to keep Sei out of the equation for as long as possible. She reluctantly got to her feet and disentangled herself from Izaya's coat.

Izaya sighed. "Just take it with you."

"Huh?" Ritchie looked back round at him. Izaya gestured towards the coat with a bored expression. This time Ritchie's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Don't tell me you actually _care_?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" asked Izaya in an attempt at innocent. He laughed though when Ritchie just gave him a withering look. "You're grumpy enough when you're cold. I'd _hate_ to see how much you'd complain if you actually got ill."

Ritchie snorted. In that case he was lucky she rarely got ill. She pulled her arms into the sleeves. "You sure you're not gonna need this?"

"In case you haven't noticed I tend to wear more clothing than you do, Ritchie-chan," Izaya mocked.

Personally Ritchie didn't think she'd done too badly tonight. Because of the bitter air outside she'd even consented to changing into jeans and boots once her shift had finished. She'd left her mini skirt and stilettos in her locker at work.

"So when do you want it back?" asked Ritchie, still amazed that he was lending it to her. Even if it wasn't out of concern.

Izaya simply smiled. "Whenever you feel like it."

"I don't get it…" said Ritchie.

"You can bring it back whenever you feel like it," Izaya repeated patiently.

"What's the catch?" asked Ritchie warily. He _always_ wore this coat. Surely he'd want it back as soon as possible.

"No catch," said Izaya, amused.

Ritchie didn't understand. Was this supposed to be her ticket to freedom? He said she didn't have to come back here until she felt like… So surely, _technically_, that could mean she didn't ever have to come back if she didn't _feel_ like it.

But the smug look on Izaya's face suggested otherwise. The look that always made her want to wrap her hands around his throat. Now what kind of game was he playing with her?

"Fine," she said, deciding to play along and take the opportunity either way. "I guess I'll see you around then."

"Don't I get a goodbye kiss?" teased Izaya, his best innocent look back on his face.

Ritchie frowned. Was he making fun of her? "Quit the nice boyfriend routine. It's creeping me out."

Izaya grinned. "But I don't know when I'm next going to see you, Ritchie-chan. What happens if I miss you?"

"Then the world will probably end," replied Ritchie sarcastically.

Izaya laughed. Ritchie couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. His eyes were alight with amusement and he was leaning forwards on the desk, watching her expectantly.

If she went over to him now and he was just messing with her she'd look like a fool. But if he meant it and she just turned round and left then she'd look like a bitch. She knew she was already a bit of both so it wasn't like she had much to lose.

With an exaggerated sigh she strode over towards him. She leant across the desk and planted a quick kiss on his still smiling mouth. "Happy now?" she asked with her usual sarcasm.

"Marginally," replied Izaya infuriatingly.

Ritchie did _not_ think that was a good enough answer. "Oh for fuck's sake!"

She seized his hair and pulled his face towards hers, crashing their lips together. She got more of a response this time and felt his mouth move with hers. After a few moments there was a sudden pain in her bottom lip and she drew back abruptly.

"Did you just bite me?" she accused, running her tongue along her lip. She could taste a hint of blood.

"It's only fair, Ritchie-chan. You do it to me all the time," said Izaya innocently.

"Yeah but I'm not the sadist here," grumbled Ritchie, rubbing her mouth. Okay, maybe she had bitten him a fair few times already… But she didn't particularly get turned on by pain like he seemed to.

Izaya just laughed at her. "Now this is more like your usual self. I don't like it when you're _really_ moody – you're not half as fun."

"And I don't like it when you sit there looking like you're king of the underworld," said Ritchie, straightening up and folding her arms.

"That makes you my queen," Izaya smirked.

Ritchie rolled her eyes and turned away. "Oh shut up. I'll be glad to get away from you." She felt his amusement follow her as she left the apartment without looking back.

As soon as she was outside the cold air bit at her face. She shuddered and pulled the fur-lined hood up over her head. Even with the extra layers of clothing it was still too cold. She set off back towards her apartment, walking at a much faster pace than usual.

As her steps fell into a regular rhythm it gave her more chance to think. She really didn't get what Izaya was trying to pull this time but she was definitely going to use the excuse to stay away from him and chill with some other people for a change.

Since it was so cold she took the shorter route along some of the alleyways behind the back of the bigger buildings. Most people wouldn't use that particular route but she'd never really been one to care.

She'd just come back out onto an unlit street, still deep in thought, when somebody grabbed her hood and dragged her backwards. It was pulled off her head and she staggered back a few steps. She twisted round to find Shizuo still holding onto the hood, looking even more surprised than she was.

"What the hell?" Ritchie protested, yanking the coat back out of his grip. "You nearly pulled me over!"

"Well I sure didn't expect to find you under there," grumbled Shizuo, regaining his composure.

Only then did Ritchie understand. With the hood up he'd thought she was Izaya. It didn't really help that she was wearing jeans tonight either. "I doubt Izaya would be caught dead in boots as pretty as these," she said sarcastically, showing off her Karen Millen boots.

"Believe me, his feet are the last thing I'd be looking at," Shizuo pointed out, lighting up a cigarette. "So, what? You guys are sharing clothes now? Just what kind of relationship are you in with him anyway?"

Ritchie ignored his obvious disgust and shrugged. "Couldn't tell you if I wanted to," she said truthfully.

Shizuo made a non-committal noise and took a drag from his cigarette. "Oh this is Celty by the way." He gestured behind him.

Ritchie looked around in surprise. She'd been so distracted by Shizuo's surprise attack that she hadn't realised there was actually somebody else there with him. But sure enough, the Black Rider was leaning against the motorcycle parked at the side of the road.

Shizuo then realised there was a flaw in his introductions. "Celty, this is…"

"Ritchie," said Ritchie quickly, not caring that Shizuo still hadn't known her name for so long.

Seeing Ritchie's attention on her Celty took out a small handheld device similar to a BlackBerry and quickly keyed something in. She then held it up for Ritchie to see the screen. Ritchie hesitantly stepped forward to read the message. '_Nice to meet you._'

"You too," replied Ritchie, still feeling awed.

Celty typed out another message. '_You're friends with Izaya?_'

"That's a bit of a stretch," said Ritchie.

'_Lovers?_'

"Again, kind of a stretch," repeated Ritchie. She hesitated before admitting, "Maybe a little closer to the mark."

She wondered what Celty would think of that. When Ritchie had met Shinra to find out more about the famous Black Rider he'd told her that she actually worked for Izaya as a transporter sometimes. Surely that would be enough for her to have an idea of what Izaya was like.

Ritchie was right. Celty held up another message for her to see. '_You should be careful._'

Ritchie almost laughed. The thought of being told to be careful by somebody who most people thought to be an urban legend – somebody who some people even classed as a grim reaper – seemed hilarious. She couldn't quite keep the humour from her voice.

"Don't worry. I think I know that more than anyone," she assured.

"Doesn't stop you from being insane," Shizuo put in.

Ritchie wasn't even the slightest bit offended. "That's me. Insane all over."

She'd never really cared about Shizuo but she still wanted to know more about the extraordinary Black Rider and found that she felt uncomfortable under her judgement. She probably wasn't making a very good first impression.

"I should probably go," she said awkwardly.

Shizuo gave her a lazy wave of the hand. "Just watch yourself around him. He can be a very bad enemy when he wants to be."

Wow. All these people telling her to be careful lately… Sei she could understand, seeing as she was her friend. But now both Celty and Shizuo? She was amazed Shizuo still even cared seeing as the last time she'd seen him she'd punched him in the face.

Celty caught her attention and held up her communications device again. '_Do you need a ride anywhere?_'

Now Ritchie was even more surprised. She wasn't used to people being nice to her when they had nothing to gain. Hell, she definitely didn't do nice things herself. So she couldn't understand why a stranger would be so kind to her…

"It's okay, I don't have far to go," said Ritchie. "It's literally straight down from here."

Celty keyed in another message. '_I don't mind. I should head back now myself. I need to go that way too._'

"Erm okay, if you're going that way then," said Ritchie hesitantly. "Thanks."

Celty nodded and turned to pull her motorcycle upright. She then held her hand out and a helmet materialised out of the air, weaving itself from the shadows. Ritchie watched in amazement. Celty passed the shadow helmet to her and she eagerly pulled it onto her head. It felt completely solid. How strange…

Celty mounted the bike and Ritchie easily climbed on behind her. She'd once dated a guy who rode a motorcycle so she was used to being on the back of one. She realised she'd actually quite missed it.

Twisting round, Celty showed her another message before storing the communications device away in her body suit. '_Hold on tight._'

Ritchie obediently wrapped her arms around her waist. Shizuo waved them off before stalking away in the opposite direction, as the motorcycle revved loudly and they zoomed off into the night.

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Probably won't be any updates until the New Year now. Though I'm likely to be very hungover on New Year's Day so I'm sure I'll get a lot done then xD (for some reason hangovers are the best time for me to write! Well it gives me an excuse to drink more I guess…)

The same rules for OC submissions still apply. See the author's note in the last chapter for more details.


	10. Wound Up

For the next week Ritchie's mood seemed to be at an all-time high. Sei wasn't mad at her, she now had a coat (albeit on loan) to battle the cold in and, best of all, she felt free for the first time in months. Not having to answer to Izaya was doing wonders for her mood.

Or so she thought.

She kept expecting Izaya to text or call her… Or even show up on her doorstep. The freedom had just seemed too good to be true… But he hadn't. And after the first week she'd started to realise that she'd been _waiting_ for him to get in touch – constantly checking her phone and always making sure to survey the area outside her work.

She'd genuinely believed that some freedom from Izaya was what she'd really wanted. But after a week of not seeing or hearing from him she'd discovered just how much she craved his company. That realisation irritated her beyond belief.

And what was even worse was that she'd found herself extremely frustrated in a sexual sense too. Something that had never happened to her before. She'd always had the freedom to pick and choose her night-time partners when needed.

But she couldn't do that now seeing as, technically, her relationship with Izaya was still intact. They were just on a break of sorts. And she'd also happened to realise that none of the guys she saw in clubs seemed to do it for her anymore. She wouldn't have wanted them anyway.

Izaya may have drove her crazy a lot of the time but the truth was that he actually tended to push her buttons in all the right ways. And she missed that. It was annoyingly ironic for her to discover this now and it only frustrated her further.

The only reassurance she had was that she now had Sei to complain to. Even though her friend still strongly disapproved of Izaya, she'd very nobly accepted that it was Ritchie's choice and that she couldn't hold it against her.

Best of all, though disapproving, she was still very intrigued by Ritchie's unusual relationship and was more than happy for Ritchie to tell her everything. Sei sympathised with her friend's current situation but she couldn't offer a solution either, short of Ritchie returning to Izaya's side.

As tempting as the idea sounded it was one thing Ritchie was refusing to do. She was unwilling to sacrifice her pride. She wondered if Izaya had been feeling the same way and would maybe eventually seek her out himself… She had to admit that the likelihood of that was very slim but she didn't want to be the one to give in. Whoever did first would be the loser. Ritchie didn't want to lose. But it all depended on how long she could hold out.

Another two weeks down the line she was definitely struggling to remember why her pride was so important. She tried to avoid spending any time alone – socialising with whomever she could – and seemed to be indulging herself in alcohol even more than she usually did. She spent a lot more time at work after her shifts ended. And when Kosuke was on bartending duty the bar became her new best friend.

Sure enough, the next time he was working he seemed quite amused to see Ritchie appear at the bar. "Now how did I know you'd be coming to spend more time with me and the bar?"

"Because I just can't stay away," said Ritchie, pulling up a stool.

Kosuke shook his head. "Sometimes I think you're only here for the alcohol; not just to see me."

Ritchie smiled. She generally didn't seem to like 'good' guys but she liked Kosuke. Since he was married with two kids it gave him even more of a protective attitude, but he knew that Ritchie didn't like to be coddled by people and only ever told her to slow down on her alcohol when she got to the legless stage. She appreciated that.

Since she could generally hold her drink better than most people it didn't happen too often anyway. And as long as she was being good Kosuke was usually happy to fuel her addiction.

"Got something you'll appreciate," he told her, producing a bottle of absinthe from under the bar.

"You know me too well," admitted Ritchie, reaching wistfully for the bottle.

Kosuke pulled it away from her and laughed. "Oh no, you're not getting the bottle. Even _you_ won't be able to handle a lot of this. I'll do you some shots and then you can stick to your other drinks."

Ritchie pouted but she knew that getting absinthe for free was still pretty damn good, even if it was just a few shots. "Fine. Hit me."

Kosuke poured out three shots and then gave her what was almost a pint of vodka and Red Bull to go with it. "That should keep you quiet for a while. I'll see if I can find some Jaeger and make a couple of bombs for you."

In response, Ritchie toasted him the first shot glass, which she'd already emptied whilst he'd been talking. It didn't take her long to polish off the others and she'd then finished most of her pint by the time Kosuke had sorted the Jaegerbombs out.

Within about half an hour she was starting to feel really out of it. Kosuke had refused to give her anymore absinthe and was pointedly staying down the other end of the bar so that she couldn't harass him further.

This was slightly irritating but Ritchie already had another idea in her foggy mind. As soon as Kosuke had disappeared into the back room with another armful of empty bottles she clambered up onto her stool – with more difficulty than she normally would have – and leant over the bar to grab the bottle of absinthe from underneath. She took several hearty swigs before quickly putting it back.

It didn't take long for the extra alcohol to hit her and she was soon finding it difficult to stay balanced on her bar stool. Kosuke noticed straightaway. "Have you been at my absinthe while I wasn't looking?"

Ritchie shook her head, attempting to look innocent. "Nooo…"

Kosuke tutted and waggled his finger at her in a patronising fashion. "No more drink for you."

"You suck," grumbled Ritchie, nowhere near loud enough to be heard over the music.

The next time Kosuke came back down to Ritchie she was slumped over the bar with her face hidden by her arms. He laughed. "I think you need to go home, Ritch." When she didn't answer he added, "I'll call you a cab."

Ritchie sat up properly then, swaying a little, and shook her head. "No. I wanna walk."

Kosuke raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

Ritchie nodded. "Fresh air… Feel better…" she slurred, shakily getting down from her seat to try and prove that she was okay.

"If you insist," said Kosuke, knowing better than to push it. He wasn't too concerned. Ritchie could handle herself better than most girls could – even when she was stinking drunk. "Just watch yourself, alright?"

She nodded again and he watched her totter out of the club, shaking his head. He knew she'd have a hell of a hangover tomorrow. She was lucky that she wasn't on shift for the next two nights.

Ritchie did feel a little better for being out in the fresh air but it was still a long way from actually helping. Kosuke's absinthe really was lethal. Still, she began stumbling her way home.

In her current state she'd forgotten to get Izaya's coat from her locker before leaving work, but she hadn't even realised. She couldn't feel the cold right now. Her insides were still warm from the alcohol intake, making her feel a little flushed.

The walk home seemed a lot longer than usual… Though it didn't help that Ritchie was moving at an incredibly slow pace. She was starting to zigzag a lot more now, straying into the road several times. She eventually decided that she needed to sit down and take a break.

She slid quite ungainly onto the floor next to a park bench. The world still didn't stop spinning so she clung to the bench for support. Maybe if she closed her eyes for a bit she wouldn't feel quite as dizzy…

XXX

Izaya hadn't been this bored in a long time. Things were suddenly a lot more dull without his new favourite toy around. He was still fairly certain that Ritchie would come running back to him, but she was holding out a lot longer than he'd expected her to.

Maybe it had been a risk giving her the option for a little freedom… But it was just more fun that way. Life was nothing without a little risk. He pretty much lived by that ideal.

Over the last week he'd taken to roaming the area between Ritchie's place and the club she worked at during the early hours of the morning. Spying like any good information broker would. He wanted her to be suffering from not being around him. And he wanted to see it first hand.

So far he'd spotted her a few times on her way home from work and she hadn't seemed any different. This irritated Izaya more than it probably should have. Her world was supposed to revolve around him. The game wasn't going the way he wanted it too.

He hadn't seen her at all tonight, even though he'd been lurking around for over an hour. He'd probably missed her, though it was unlike her to leave the club so early on. With an exaggerated sigh he decided to call it a night and began to make his way back to his apartment.

He took the shorter route, cutting through Rikugien Park. Most people wouldn't go that way alone at night. But he already knew who most of the dangerous people of Ikebukuro were and they certainly weren't going to try anything against him. Except maybe Shizuo… But that was just always good fun.

About halfway through the park he spotted a figure huddled up at the side of the pathway. Poor human… Either homeless or too smashed to do anything but curl up on the ground. Izaya personally didn't indulge in substances like alcohol so he found himself to be above such degrading intoxication.

But as he got closer he suddenly realised with amazement that it was _his_ human. "Ritchie-chan?"

There weren't many things that took Izaya by surprise but finding his girlfriend unconscious in the park during the middle of the night was definitely a little unexpected. He sighed. "You have got to be kidding me."

He strode over and crouched down beside Ritchie. She was still holding onto the bench but there was no doubt that she was asleep. Izaya grabbed her bare shoulder and gave her a rough shake.

"Ritchie-chan, you shouldn't be sleeping out here," he scolded. Her skin was freezing cold – even more so than usual.

Ritchie stirred and muttered something incomprehensible. But she still didn't get up. Instead she released the bench and slid down completely onto the floor.

Izaya frowned. "Come on, Ritchie," he said more sharply, giving her another shake. "You'll get hypothermia if you stay here." As much as he generally didn't care for other people's well-being he had no doubt that she wouldn't be much fun if she became seriously ill.

"Izaya?" Ritchie murmured groggily, opening her eyes.

"Just how much have you had to drink?" asked Izaya with a look of distaste.

"I had absinthe," said Ritchie stupidly, not entirely answering his question.

She looked and sounded so pathetic that Izaya couldn't help but laugh. "Of course you did. And did you plan on spending the entire night here?"

"I needed to sit down," said Ritchie slowly, dragging herself up into a sitting position as if to prove her point. Her speech had improved a little but she was still clearly out of it. Her eyes were wild and she didn't seem to be able to focus properly.

Izaya sighed. "Well you've sat down for long enough so let's go. My place is closer; you can come back with me."

"Kay," Ritchie agreed happily.

Izaya straightened up and helped to pull Ritchie to her feet, practically having to drag her up off the floor. She was very unsteady and was leaning most of her weight against him. She was shaking but he couldn't tell if it was because of the cold or just her drunken state.

"Will you even be able to walk?" asked Izaya disbelievingly.

"Dunno…" mumbled Ritchie, swaying a little on the spot. She now seemed unwilling to try and move her feet now that she was standing.

Izaya couldn't quite decide whether drunken Ritchie was funny or just annoying. But either way they were going to end up being out here all night if she wasn't even going to try and walk. He sighed again – this time a lot louder.

"Put your arms around my neck," he instructed, resigned.

Ritchie obliged shakily and he lifted her up into his arms easily – she was a lot lighter than he'd expected. She didn't even protest at being picked up. That only confirmed just how out of it she was. If she'd been sober she'd have been kicking and screaming.

"Just tell me if you're gonna puke," grumbled Izaya, intending to drop her if she did.

Ritchie just nodded and didn't say anything else. They carried on back to Izaya's place in silence and for a while he strongly suspected that she'd fallen asleep again.

"I didn't like not seeing you," Ritchie told him suddenly, still slurring her words a little.

Izaya smirked. "I didn't either, Ritchie-chan," he said, humouring her. There was no harm in admitting that now. She wouldn't remember it tomorrow.

Ritchie was silent for a few moments, then added, "I'm glad I came to Bukuro, y'know."

"Are you now?" asked Izaya, his tone full of amusement. He liked where this was going. He had a feeling that this was something she wouldn't have told him while sober.

Ritchie nodded again before finally admitting in a much quieter voice that he had to lean in to hear, "You're the best thing that's happened to me."

Izaya's grin widened and he laughed cheerfully. "You're gonna really regret telling me that, Ritchie-chan."

"Hmmm," said Ritchie absently. She probably didn't even know what he was saying anymore.

She didn't say anything else after that and neither did Izaya. By the time he'd reached his apartment Ritchie had fallen asleep again. Once inside, Izaya carried her upstairs and tipped her rather unceremoniously onto the bed. She didn't even stir.

Izaya sighed for what felt like the millionth time and ran a hand through his hair. He knew that he wouldn't have gone to such lengths for anyone else and the idea bothered him a little. "Richelle Honda, you'll be the death of me…"

XXX

When Ritchie woke up the next morning she was almost sure that she was dying. The world was spinning before she'd even opened her eyes. She knew that if she moved even an inch she was going to puke.

So she lay there with her eyes still closed, trying to think what had happened. The last thing she could remember was stealing more of Kosuke's absinthe from behind the bar… Damn. That had been some real powerful stuff. How had she even gotten home?

She cautiously opened her eyes and found herself looking up at a ceiling that she knew wasn't her own. Her brain felt mashed and she was confused for a long time before she realised why the room was so familiar.

Crap. She was at Izaya's place... Had she somehow managed to find her way here whilst she was drunk? She cringed, worried about what she might have said to him. She couldn't remember a thing! And this surely meant that she'd lost by caving first, drunk or not.

Feeling distinctly unhappy, she sighed and closed her eyes again, willing herself to go back to sleep and hopefully skip most of her hangover. Of course, it was never going to be that easy.

"Ritchie-chan? Are you awake?"

"No," said Ritchie shortly, keeping her eyes firmly closed.

"Don't be rude, Ritchie-chan," Izaya tutted. "You should be grateful to me after last night."

Oh god… Ritchie didn't even want to know _why_ she was supposed to be grateful. "Right now I just want to sleep."

"Don't you want to know what happened last night?" Izaya sounded far too amused for her liking.

"No. Sleep first," Ritchie insisted.

Izaya sighed loudly, obviously thinking that she was just putting off the conversation. The bed moved as he got up, causing Ritchie's stomach to lurch sickeningly.

She groaned. "Don't make the bed move unless you want me to throw up on it."

"Charming," replied Izaya.

"Sleep now," Ritchie repeated as an attempt to dismiss him.

Izaya laughed. "Fine. Just try and recover quickly. You're so boring when you're hungover."

Ritchie didn't even bother with a sarcastic response – another sign that she was best not to be disturbed. She listened to Izaya head downstairs then began to will herself back to sleep again.

Eventually it worked. When Ritchie woke up for the second time her head hurt a little and she still felt tired, but she'd at least slept the nausea off. That was definitely success enough. As long as she wasn't going to puke then she could put up with the rest.

After lying there for a while she reluctantly pulled herself out of bed and headed for the bathroom. She swilled her mouth out with water then drank some more from the faucet. She stood there for a few minutes, contemplating whether or not to have a quick shower, before deciding that she would.

It wasn't the first time she'd showered at Izaya's and it wasn't the first time that she'd had to use guy's shampoo either. She didn't really care – it smelt nice so that was good enough for her. By the time she'd run a towel through her hair after getting out it was almost completely dry again. One of the benefits of it being so short.

She picked up her clothes and decided that they smelt a little strange. What on earth had she been doing last night? She wrinkled her nose. She certainly wasn't putting them on again.

She padded back through into the bedroom. She was going to have to borrow some of Izaya's clothes for now – she couldn't really see him caring. She searched through some of the drawers and fished out a pair of boxer shorts and a plain V-necked black shirt. That would do.

Ritchie felt a lot better for being clean and, although she would have liked to crawl back into bed, she knew she would have to face the music sometime. Sighing, she grudgingly headed downstairs once she was dressed.

Izaya was sat at his computer as usual and smirked when Ritchie appeared down the stairs. "So she survives!"

"She does, unfortunately," said Ritchie sarcastically, traipsing over to sit down on the couch.

Her response only made Izaya's grin widen. He clicked off his computer before bounding over to join her on the couch. He then laughed at the wary look on her face. "What? Aren't you dying to hear what happened last night?"

"I really can't say I am," said Ritchie dryly. "But I'm sure you're still going to tell me all about how I came crawling back here."

Izaya looked amused. "You didn't come crawling back here."

"I didn't?" asked Ritchie, confused. Maybe she still had some dignity after all. "Then how did I get here?"

"I'm so glad you asked, Ritchie-chan!" exclaimed Izaya happily. "Why, I found you asleep in Rikugien Park and had to carry you back here."

Ritchie stared at him in disbelief, cringing internally. Okay, maybe she didn't have any dignity left. "Please tell me you're joking."

"What do you think?" said Izaya, still grinning.

Urgh. Of course he wasn't joking. Damn… Falling asleep in a park, huh? That was bad even for her. She definitely wasn't going to drink absinthe again! Well… Not for a while anyway.

She then noticed the look on Izaya's face. He still seemed far too amused. "Why do I get the feeling that you have something even worse to tell me?"

"Because you're just so intuitive," said Izaya happily. He didn't need any prompting to continue with the embarrassing story. "You were very keen to tell me last night about how happy you were that you moved to Ikebukuro."

That already sounded bad. But unfortunately, Ritchie could sense that there was still more to come. "And what else?" she asked slowly, positively dreading the answer.

"And that apparently I'm the best thing that's happened to you," said Izaya, positively beaming.

"Oh god…" groaned Ritchie, burying her face in her hands. She'd tried so hard to deny to herself how much she enjoyed being around Izaya. How was that supposed to work when she was getting drunk and admitting it to Izaya himself?

Izaya laughed and patted her on the head. "Oh come on, Ritchie-chan… It's not that bad! It's not like an 'I love you' or anything."

"Yeah, I definitely wouldn't hold your breath on that," grumbled Ritchie from between her fingers. With a resigned sigh she lowered her hands and curled up on the couch beside Izaya, resting her head on his thigh. Oh well, it was pointless ignoring it now. "For what it's worth, I did miss being around you."

She expected him to mock her for it but, amazingly, he didn't. Instead he just idly played with her hair. "I did too, Ritchie-chan."

Maybe it would have been nicer if he'd sounded more sincere. But for now Ritchie didn't really care. She was just happy to be back. She did have more questions however. "So how exactly did you find me in the park at such an ungodly hour? Were you following me again?"

"Maybe," replied Izaya.

"Why?" asked Ritchie.

"Because I wanted to see if you were suffering from not seeing me," explained Izaya simply.

"Oh thanks," said Ritchie sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Izaya chuckled.

As twisted as his reason was Ritchie was still strangely pleased by the idea. _He'd_ sought her out before she'd gone back to him. That meant that she had won. Score one to her. Though she kept that thought to herself – she knew that if she said it out loud Izaya would find some way to counter it.

So instead she fell silent, absent-mindedly running her hand across Izaya's leg as he continued to stroke her hair. Her hand came dangerously close to his groin and he stiffened, pulling at her hair a little harder.

Ritchie smiled to herself. It looked like she wasn't the only one who had missed this aspect of their relationship too. She abruptly sat back up and twisted round to face him. Then, before he had the chance to say anything, she pushed him roughly down onto the couch.

Surprise flitted very briefly across Izaya's face. Ritchie_ loved_ that she still had the ability to do that. She climbed on top of him so that she was straddling his stomach and pressed on his chest with both hands, holding him down.

Of course, his trademark smirk shifted back into place and he opened his mouth to make some smartass comment, only to have Ritchie cut him off as she crushed his lips with her own. Izaya responded eagerly and wound his arms around her, pulling her body down onto his.

Ritchie manoeuvred one of her hands between them and underneath Izaya's shirt, beginning to pull it up. Only then did Izaya break contact with her mouth so that he could remark, "You don't waste any time, do you Ritchie-chan?"

Before responding, Ritchie ran her free hand along the side of his neck, digging her nails in just underneath his jaw line. Izaya groaned and arched himself up underneath her. She pressed another kiss to his lips. "If you know what's good for you you'll shut the hell up."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Happy New Year, folks! Hope none of you got too sozzled during the celebrations (I was good this time, though I'm still recovering from my work's Christmas do xD)

Same rules for submitting OCs apply. See chapter eight.


	11. Dysfunctional Couple

Ritchie spent the next few days in an almost dreamy haze, following Izaya around like a lost puppy. She still felt that she'd won the last round between them… So she could afford to drop a few cool points by giving into her need to be around him for a while.

The only time she'd even left his place had been to fetch his coat from her locker at work. She wasn't meant to keep it any longer. She was back now. The game was over.

He'd seemed very smug when she'd brought his coat back, which she still didn't quite understand. Had the whole thing been because he knew she'd eventually bring it back? But he was the one who'd come to her first… Technically.

But then she thought it over. If Izaya hadn't found her in the park the other night how much longer would she have been able to stay away from him? The absinthe incident had proved that she hadn't been handling the separation all that well.

She eventually asked him why he'd risked letting her go and his answer had simply been that he knew she'd come back. He didn't elaborate further and Ritchie didn't bother to point out that he'd been the one to find her first. She was much happier now and didn't mind letting it go.

So when her next shift rolled around she was reluctant to leave. Particularly seeing as they were in the middle of another make out session.

Ritchie's cell phone started to ring. She'd had to start setting her alarm to remind her when it was time for work. Over the last few days she'd been constantly losing track of time and forgetting when she had other places to be.

Ritchie ignored her phone, knowing that it would stop after a few seconds and that the snooze feature would kick in. Right now she was more interested in Izaya's mouth and how good his body felt underneath hers…

Izaya pushed her away just enough for him to speak. "You'll be late for work, Ritchie-chan," he tutted.

"Don't care," Ritchie murmured against his lips, whilst tracing a sharp line down the side of his neck with her nail.

Izaya groaned with pleasure, then he sighed. "Come on, Ritchie…" The rare times when he forgot to add the irritating honorific showed when she was really testing his resolve. He abruptly rolled to the side, tipping Ritchie off onto the bed beside him.

She pouted. "You could be a little more bothered about the fact that I have to go." She didn't like that she was the only one who seemed to be so clingy lately.

Izaya smirked. "Oh Ritchie-chan, every second away from you is like being stabbed in the chest with a rusty blade… How about that?"

Ritchie rolled her eyes as she reluctantly climbed off the bed. "I changed my mind. I preferred it when you didn't care."

Izaya laughed. "I'll care a lot more when I know we won't have to be interrupted."

The thought sent a shiver of pleasure through Ritchie's body. He was right. They could pick up where they left off after she finished work. Izaya seemed to run on such a crazy and often nocturnal schedule that he never really seemed bothered about when he got round to sleeping.

Ritchie snatched up her cell phone and locker key from the bedside table. "I'll catch you later."

"Don't miss me too much," taunted Izaya.

Ritchie ignored him and headed downstairs to let herself out. Her body still felt really wound up. Getting hot and heavy just before work really hadn't been such a good idea. But after being out in the cold for a while she felt the chill chase away the heat of her frustration. Maybe winter weather was good for something after all.

The fact that Izaya's apartment was closer to her work was a bonus. And when she got there she found something else to cheer her up too.

"Sei!" she shouted happily, spotting her friend amongst a small group of girls near the bar. She bounded over and gave her a hug.

Sei laughed. "Wow, you seem happy! Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"

"Hey, I can't always be queen bitch," grinned Ritchie.

"So I take it someone's back with their boyfriend again?" said Sei knowingly.

Before Ritchie could even reply, one of Sei's friends cut in. "Is it really true that you're going out with Izaya Orihara?" Ritchie realised then that it was Arisa – one of Sei's friends from university who'd gone on the bar crawl with them.

"What's he like?" questioned Mena – another girl who'd been part of the bar crawl group. "Is he really as bad as everyone says?"

"He's an asshole," said Ritchie truthfully, earning herself some funny looks from Sei's friends. She guessed that most people would try to show their boyfriend off in a good light. But Ritchie had no misconceptions in the matter. She wasn't going to attempt to delude herself or anybody else.

Sei laughed appreciatively though. "At least you understand what you've gotten yourself into."

"Ritchie!" a voice suddenly shouted.

Ritchie jumped and looked round. Gobei was behind the bar and he didn't look pleased. He was her least favourite manager – he was nowhere near as nice as Kosuke and definitely not as generous with the alcohol to mixer ratios.

"From what I remember your job is to be up on that stage, not socialising with your little friends," he said stiffly.

"Got it," said Ritchie. She turned back to the girls and rolled her eyes. "Guess I'll catch you later, _little friends_."

She hurried off to quickly deposit her cell phone inside her locker, then attached the locker key to one of her bra straps like she always did. Luckily she was only on a short four-hour shift tonight. She'd expected it to drag seeing as she already wanted to finish quickly, but time mercifully seemed to speed up and her shift seemed to be over in no time.

Sei and her friends joined her as soon as they saw her getting down from the podium. "You gonna come and dance with us for a bit?" asked Sei enthusiastically.

Ritchie hesitated. After the frustration she'd felt from having to leave Izaya she desperately wanted to get back to him and continue what they'd started. But seeing the happy look on her friend's face she didn't want to tell her no either.

"I'll just stay for one drink," she compromised. She hadn't actually touched any alcohol since the night with the absinthe. It had to be a world record.

Sei was happy with that and seemed to understand the situation straightaway. "Ah, I understand; you've got something else in mind tonight already." Ritchie just grinned in response. Sei laughed. "Come on then, let's make the most out of this one drink!"

Ritchie still ended up staying longer than she'd intended. With her one stingy drink from Gobei she was completely sober but she still got carried away dancing with the other girls. Sei had some good friends in her group – it was the only thing that made Ritchie feel that she'd missed out by not going to university.

When she eventually managed to escape she gave Sei a quick hug, said goodbye to the others and then ran to grab her cell phone from her locker. It was now nearly three o'clock. She really hoped that Izaya wouldn't decide he was too tired to do anything when she got back to his place.

She picked up the pace as soon as she got out of the club, quickly weaving through the smokers that were stood outside the front doors. She'd only gotten about a quarter of the way back when she turned a corner and found herself surrounded by several men. She didn't even have time to react and was suddenly pushed roughly, face first, against the wall.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she cried, attempting to throw off the guy who'd pinned her arms behind her back.

"Richelle Honda, you're under arrest for armed robbery."

What? Ritchie froze. Was this a joke? She managed to turn her head enough to see that the figures around her were indeed wearing police uniforms. What the hell was going on?

"I don't know where you're getting this from but you've got the wrong person," she insisted, trying to stay calm. Getting worked up wasn't going to help her case. "I've been in the Ouhei club all night – I work there! You can ask my manager, Gobei!" Gobei may have been a tight-ass but she was sure he'd still stick up for her on this one.

"We got an anonymous tip saying otherwise," contradicted the police officer. "Now I suggest you come with us quietly and we can check out your alibi."

Ritchie didn't understand. Someone had told the police that she was going to rob somewhere? But why? She didn't think she'd been in Ikebukuro long enough to make an enemy who'd go as far as getting her locked up. But she _did_ know someone who'd probably find the whole situation rather entertaining…

It was like flicking a switch. Ritchie's whole body suddenly pulsed with anger and all of her common sense flew straight out the window. "That damn bastard, I'm going to kill him!" she snarled, bucking suddenly to try and loosen the police officer's hold on her.

She hadn't done anything – she was being set up! She had no intention of going _anywhere_ quietly. And she definitely wasn't going to let Izaya win this new twisted game he had in mind.

"Miss, please!" exclaimed the police officer, not expecting the sudden struggle. "You should know that whatever you do or say now can be used against you!"

Ritchie didn't care – she wasn't even listening. She'd been to jail several times already and it wasn't a particularly fun experience. She was _not_ going there for something she hadn't even done.

So she fought tooth and nail to try and escape. She may have been able to throw a good punch – and nearly managed to give one of the officers a black eye – but she was no match for three grown men. They managed to subdue her enough for one of them to clamp handcuffs onto her wrists. Ritchie let out a long stream of profanities.

"You have the right to remain silent," enforced the one who'd managed to get the handcuffs on her. "We're gonna keep you in overnight to calm you down. Your alibi will be checked out tomorrow morning."

Ritchie knew that it was her own fault that she'd made it worse, but that didn't stop her from kicking and swearing as they dragged her into the police car that was stationed back around the corner. Only when they were driving did she stop struggling and try grilling them for more information about this 'anonymous tip' instead. Unfortunately they weren't giving anything away, which only made her fume even more.

By the time they'd gotten Ritchie to the police station and locked her in one of the cells she was feeling murderous again. She was going to wring Izaya's neck when she saw him. What the hell was he playing at this time?

To her surprise she found out a lot sooner than she'd expected. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in the cell – there were no clocks and she seemed to be in quite an isolated section of the building. There were no other cells around besides hers and there wasn't a guard on duty nearby. She was completely alone. They obviously didn't see her as a high risk criminal.

After what couldn't have been more than a few hours she heard footsteps. She sat up quickly. Maybe it was somebody who could give her answers. It was… But it wasn't the person she'd expected to see just yet.

Ritchie all but launched herself at the bars the moment she saw him. "How dare you show your face here! What the hell are you trying to do to me?"

"What do you think? I'm here to break you out," Izaya announced cheerfully.

Ritchie wasn't buying. "Do you think I'm stupid? I know it was you who set me up in the first place!"

"And now I'm breaking you out," repeated Izaya patiently, looking bemused.

Ritchie stared at him, trying to process what he'd said. "So you're telling me you got me locked up in here so you could then help me escape?"

Izaya beamed. "Well done, Ritchie-chan, you're catching on!"

Ritchie just continued to stare at him in disbelief. "What the fuck's wrong with you? You're the one who should be locked up! In an asylum!"

"There's no need to be rude, Ritchie-chan," Izaya tutted. "This is supposed to be fun."

"Well it's _not_ fun," said Ritchie shortly. "I've been at work, I was looking forward to going back yours and instead you get me thrown in prison!"

Izaya grinned. "Aww don't worry, Ritchie-chan… We can pick up where we left off after we bust you out of here."

"You're not getting me out," said Ritchie adamantly.

"I know what I'm doing," said Izaya mischievously, producing a set of keys from his pocket and twirling them round on his finger. "It'll be fine. I've always wanted to stage a prison break."

"No, I mean I'm not going with you," argued Ritchie, not even caring where he'd managed to snatch the cell keys from.

She had her own rebellious streak but she wasn't stupid. Once her alibi was checked out she'd be cleared and free to go. She'd only have to suffer one night in here. But if she broke out then she'd definitely be in a lot more trouble – innocent or not. Plus she didn't feel like doing what Izaya wanted right now.

Izaya frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not an idiot! If I escape I'll get into way more trouble," Ritchie pointed out. "But if I behave I'll be good to go as soon as they check my alibi."

"You're ruining the plan, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya, looking annoyed.

"Tough shit. I don't want to be a part of it," said Ritchie testily.

Izaya's frown deepened. "Don't be silly. Come on, just play along…"

He inserted one of the keys into the lock on the cell door but, without warning, Ritchie suddenly screamed as loud as she could. Izaya dropped the keys, wincing as the scream resounded through his ears, and quickly clamped a hand over Ritchie's mouth.

"What are you doing? Someone will hear you!" he exclaimed, even more irritated now.

Ritchie ripped his hand away. "That's the idea," she said plainly, a hint of a smirk creeping across her face.

Izaya's eyes widened in surprise and sure enough, a burly security guard charged into the block and slammed Izaya against the bars of the cell. Like Ritchie, Izaya wasn't stupid and knew that fighting back would make things worse, so he remained still as the guard pinned his arms and pressed his face against the cold steel.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in here? It's three thirty in the morning!" exclaimed the guard.

"He thought it would be a good practical joke," Ritchie interrupted before Izaya could answer. She'd noticed that he'd inconspicuously kicked the set of keys out of sight whilst the guard had been concentrating on subduing him. Izaya shot her an annoyed look, though she was actually improving the situation for him.

The guard frowned at Ritchie too. "You know him?"

"Unfortunately," Ritchie replied.

She saw unwilling amusement dance across Izaya's features, but he still seemed to think that keeping silent was the better option. He was probably right.

"This place isn't a joke," the guard told Izaya irritably. "Maybe you'll appreciate that after spending a night in here yourself."

He then pulled out his own set of keys with one hand and unlocked the door to Ritchie's cell. She froze. This wasn't supposed to happen… "Hey, don't put him in here with me!" she protested.

"It's not up to you, sweetheart," said the guard condescendingly, as he shoved Izaya roughly into the cell and locked the door again after him.

"But there's only one bed," Ritchie pointed out stupidly, trying to give the guard a plausible excuse.

"Then share," he said shortly before striding off.

Ritchie gaped after him. Surely that was some violation of human rights… Not that she normally cared about that kind of thing – she just didn't particularly want to be around Izaya right now. Especially not sharing the same tiny bed.

She grumpily turned back to Izaya, who looked torn between annoyance and amusement. "Oh look, I screwed up your big master plan," she said sarcastically. In truth, she was at least happy that she'd gotten him into trouble too.

Her comment made Izaya's expression shift to definite amusement. "Well I guess I can't think of anything more appropriate than the two of us sharing a cell together."

Ritchie scowled. "You're gonna be sleeping on the floor."

Izaya grinned. "I don't think so, Ritchie-chan. You've already been told you have to share," he said in a patronising tone.

"I don't care! I don't even want to be around you right now!" Ritchie spat.

Izaya sighed, then in one abrupt movement he grabbed Ritchie by the shoulder and shoved her back against the wall, moving in as close as he could. "Now you don't really mean that, do you?"

"Yes I do," breathed Ritchie. The feeling of his body pressed against hers was mixing up her emotions. "Just back off and leave me the hell…"

Izaya didn't wait for her to finish. He grasped her face roughly with one hand and forced his mouth onto hers, cutting off her words. Ritchie stiffened. It was the same technique she'd used herself to try and shut Izaya up in the past. It turned out it worked just as well on her too.

She put both hands on Izaya's chest and half-heartedly tried to push him away, her resolve weakening rapidly. She hated herself for it. She knew she was angry at him and was trying to remember why, but it was getting harder and harder to think.

Izaya slid his hand across Ritchie's hip, toying with the waistband on her skirt, and all her anger dissolved in an instant. She wrapped her arms tightly around Izaya's neck, pulling him so close that they barely had room to breathe.

With her mood now completely turned round, all Ritchie suddenly wanted was for Izaya to take her right there, right then. She forced him over towards the tiny bed, which suddenly seemed a lot more appealing than it had a few minutes ago. She pushed him down onto it and clambered on top of him, her arms winding back around his neck as she became overwhelmed by the scent and taste of him…

Izaya pulled back just enough to say breathlessly, "Have you turned into some kind of voyeur now, Ritchie-chan?"

That was enough to make Ritchie hesitate and remember where they were. He was right... This section of the prison may have been deserted but it probably wouldn't stay that way. They'd likely have a guard pass through at some point, especially now that they had a trespasser as well. Ritchie's standards would be classed as low by most people, but even she didn't find the idea of dogging particularly alluring.

She saw the amused look on Izaya's face as he observed her predicament and, just like that, the moment disappeared and Ritchie's need cooled instantly. They weren't going to be doing anything while they were in here. Grumbling, she rolled off Izaya and gave him a shove, feeling suddenly annoyed again.

"Move over," she said sharply, squeezing into the small gap on the bed and purposely lying so that she was facing away from him.

Izaya chuckled and lay down beside her, wrapping an arm tight around her waist so that she couldn't pull away. He murmured teasingly into her ear, "You're so cute when you're angry, Ritchie-chan."

"Just shut up and go to sleep," Ritchie huffed.

XXX

Ritchie was woken up later that morning by the bars of the cell rattling. She disentangled herself from Izaya and sat up to find a different guard from before unlocking the cell. He seemed friendlier than the last one.

"Richelle Honda?" he asked tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"You're free to go." He looked apologetic. "Your alibi checked out. We're really sorry to have put you through this."

"No sweat," said Ritchie casually, getting to her feet. Right now she was just grateful that she could get out. Plus it was Izaya's fault that she'd been stuck in here – not the poor security guard's.

"By way of an apology, the superintendent said you can vouch for your friend if you like," said the guard, casting a curious glance at Izaya who was now sat up and watching Ritchie expectantly. "If not we'll probably keep him in for another day or two."

Hmmm, vouch for Izaya's bail after he'd gotten her into this mess? She didn't think so.

"No thanks," replied Ritchie coolly. "Some jail time will do him good."

The guard looked surprised but didn't comment. "Okay… Well then, the exit's just through this way…"

Ritchie smirked to herself, desperate to turn round and see the look on Izaya's face. But she figured it would have more impact if she left without looking back… So she did just that.

She hadn't been outside for long when her cell phone vibrated, signalling an incoming text message. When she flipped it open she saw that it was from Izaya. Of course… The guard had been more interested in getting Izaya into the cell than anything else – he hadn't taken any of his belongings from him.

'_You'll regret that._'

Ritchie rolled her eyes. He was trying to scare her… Well it wasn't working. Though regardless, Ritchie didn't want to take any chances in seeing how pissed off he'd be when he did get out. If she just sat at home he'd be able to find her easily. She needed to go somewhere he wouldn't expect her to be. Preferably somewhere public. With witnesses.

She ended up heading down to the district where Shizuo lived. It definitely wasn't the first place Izaya would look for her. So she spent the day in one of the bars there. It actually wasn't too bad… Albeit a little on the quiet side.

But eventually she grew bored. Even by the evening the bar still hadn't gotten any busier. Ritchie deliberated over what to do next. She could go and get something to eat… Then maybe hit a better club. Izaya didn't really do the club scene so it seemed like a safe option.

She finished up her drink and headed out, on the lookout for a decent-looking restaurant. She also kept an eye out for Shizuo. She always felt like she'd run into him when she was on his turf and she wasn't particularly in the mood for that.

She found a restaurant on the corner of the street she was on, but the menu seemed to consist of only seafood. Ritchie hated seafood. She carried on past and had only just turned the corner when somebody seized her arm and dragged her off the main street, down onto a side road.

She didn't have time to react but then she didn't need any guesses as to who it was. "How the hell did you get out so early?" she asked irritably, wrenching her arm away.

"I have my ways, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya calmly, though his tone was much colder than usual.

Ritchie didn't really want to know what kind of bribe or blackmail he could have put in place to secure his early release. Especially one that would work on a man of the law… "I didn't expect you to find me so fast," she grumbled.

"Please Ritchie, give me some credit," said Izaya scornfully. "I knew you'd be trying to avoid me so it wasn't difficult to come up with places that you'd think would be safe from me."

Damn him. He'd used her own smarts against her. "Oh, so I need to be safe from you? Should I be scared?" asked Ritchie sarcastically. She knew that goading him probably wasn't the best idea but she hated how he was always trying to assert his control over her.

"That depends," replied Izaya, still calm. He leant in so that his face was inches away from hers. "Aren't you sorry that you left me in prison? If you are then maybe I'll let it slide..."

Ritchie raised an eyebrow. She didn't believe that for a second. "No. You needed to be taken down a notch or two."

Izaya's expression darkened, almost making Ritchie want to take a step back. "You really shouldn't underestimate me, y'know… I don't like it when things don't go my way."

"Oh boohoo, so I ruined your plans… Suck it up," said Ritchie sharply. "One night in prison is nothing. Why don't you grow a pair?"

Izaya suddenly lunged forward without warning and seized Ritchie by her wrist, squeezing it so hard that she was sure she'd have a bruise to show for it. Despite how she always told herself that Izaya didn't scare her anymore, she felt a spike of fear. He wasn't playing this time. He was truly pissed off.

She tried to pull away but he dragged her in closer, his eyes glittering with anger. "If you can't play by my rules then you won't play at all," he growled, holding her wrist up over her head. "Understand?"

Ritchie wasn't entirely sure what he meant by 'not playing at all' but she had a feeling that it would be something a lot more sinister than just cutting her loose. She needed to get away from him. Now.

His grip was too tight to escape so she did the next best thing she could think of and swung at him with her free hand. Unfortunately he'd been expecting it and caught her fist easily.

A wicked smirk crossed his face. "I don't think so, Ritchie-chan," he taunted.

Ritchie snarled. "Don't make me kick you."

"Oh I don't think you will," said Izaya, pulling Ritchie towards him and twisting her arms painfully behind her back.

Ritchie glared at him, unable to move. "Let me go," she said in her most dangerous voice.

"But I'm afraid you'll hit me, Ritchie-chan," Izaya mocked, his expression both amused but still angry.

"Stop toying with me!" Ritchie shouted angrily.

Luckily for her their scene seemed to have attracted attention and a dark shape joined them without warning. Izaya abruptly released Ritchie as a strong arm suddenly wrapped around his neck, squeezing hard and pulling him to his tiptoes. He gagged and jerked wildly, trying to break away.

"I always knew you were a bastard but even _you_ should know never to hurt a girl," growled Shizuo. He looked over at Ritchie. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," said Ritchie, watching in amusement. She'd never seen Izaya rendered speechless before. She found it mildly entertaining.

"So what do you want me to do?" asked Shizuo, pressing harder on Izaya's windpipe. Izaya choked, his fingers grasping desperately at Shizuo's arm as he struggled to breathe. "I can crush his throat in a second and believe me, I'd be happy to do it… But if it's gonna upset you then I don't really want that on my conscience."

Ritchie stared at Shizuo in surprise. She knew how much he hated Izaya – he'd spent half his life trying to kill him. He'd probably never get another chance like this... Izaya was too smart for him. Shizuo had only managed to catch him off guard this time because he'd been far too busy tormenting Ritchie.

And _upset_ her? That didn't really seem like the right word. 'Upset' wasn't really an emotion she felt all that often. And with everything Izaya had put her through – today especially – she didn't feel she'd be that bothered by his untimely demise. Plus she was impressed that Shizuo even cared about her opinion on this. She still couldn't believe that he didn't seem to hold the nose-breaking incident against her…

So what was she going to do? Was she going to vouch for Izaya or should she let Shizuo choke him to death? She had to admit that the second option was sickeningly tempting.

"You may wanna make it a quick decision though. I don't think he'll be able to hold out much longer," said Shizuo conversationally, giving Izaya a shake. He seemed to be enjoying the situation too.

Ritchie's gaze shifted to Izaya's face. His eyes were rolling back in his head and desperate gasps were coming from his now blue-tinged lips. She realised it wasn't as entertaining as she'd first thought. If anyone was going to take control from Izaya then she wanted to do it herself. She was going to regain her control fair and square. Shizuo wasn't even a part of their game.

"No, let him go," said Ritchie reluctantly.

Shizuo raised an eyebrow but he did as she said. Izaya staggered forwards, fighting for breath and massaging his throat. Shizuo shook his head. "You're pretty whacked, y'know," he told Ritchie before pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and stalking off.

Ritchie hid a smile. Understatement of the year. She turned back to Izaya. He was doubled over with his hands on his knees, still breathing hard as if he'd just ran a marathon. His lips were now only slightly purple.

"Come on," she said, giving his shoulder a shove. "It'll take more than that to keep _you_ down."

"I never thought you'd have so much faith in me, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya breathlessly as he straightened up. His usual smirk was back in place as if nothing had happened.

Damn right. Ritchie felt he had no right to be angry at her now, seeing as she'd just stopped Shizuo from choking the life out of him. "Who said it was faith?" she asked, then punched him straight in the face.

Izaya reeled back, clutching his eye. Ritchie couldn't help but burst out laughing at the look on his face. He looked completely shocked. She flexed her fingers, feeling pleased. Her knuckles stung but nowhere near as much as they'd done when she'd punched Shizuo.

"That was for earlier," she said ruefully, rubbing her knuckles.

Izaya stared at her, still shocked. Then amazingly, he started to laugh too. "That's hardly playing fair, Ritchie-chan. I just got strangled half to death – you should be nicer to me."

"I don't do nice," Ritchie pointed out, still smiling. Who'd have thought she could punch Izaya Orihara and totally get away with it?

"I can see," agreed Izaya, smirking again. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they started off back down the street, his faux cheery manner back as normal. "I never imagined you'd be so sadistic."

Ritchie rolled her eyes theatrically. "I'm glad you're catching on." She played along and slid her arm around his waist, underneath his coat, hooking her thumb into the waistband on his jeans.

Dysfunctional couple didn't even begin to cover it.

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Hooray for another super long chapter! It kinda just went on and on before I realised what was happening… xD This was definitely one of my favourites to write.

And people wanted more of 'dark' Izaya. So please enjoy!


	12. A Shot At Normality

Ritchie was starting to feel like the world revolved around her. She could now understand why Izaya had such a god complex. Shizuo had had the easy opportunity to take out his mortal enemy and he'd given it up just because she'd asked him to. Of course that could have been because he was surprisingly a gentleman, but Ritchie chose not to factor that into it.

She'd had the power over Izaya for once and she'd decided not to use it. She didn't regret her decision though. She didn't want to play this game the same way that Izaya did – getting the pawns to carry out his dirty work. She wanted to make the moves herself. When it finally came down to it this was going to be _her_ checkmate.

But lately he was back to being perpetually happy and all of her devious intentions disappeared as she revelled in their relationship being back to normal. Well, as normal as it could be for them.

Though after a while, as usual, Ritchie was starting to think that there was some other reason for Izaya's good mood. Her suspicions were only confirmed when he made her another proposal one afternoon while they were at his place.

"What do you say to going on a date, Ritchie-chan?" he suggested cheerfully.

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"A date," repeated Izaya in the same patient tone he often had to use with her. "Isn't that what couples do?"

"I don't know if you've noticed but we're not like other couples," Ritchie pointed out.

She received a derisive snort in response, but it wasn't from Izaya. They weren't alone this time – Izaya's secretary Namie was also in the room, working on the computer. Ritchie had crossed paths with her several times before, but since she and Izaya didn't hang out at his place much during the day she didn't have to see Namie that often.

Not only did Ritchie not understand why Izaya even needed a secretary, she also openly disliked her. Namie made it clear that she couldn't stand Izaya and also showed her obvious disgust over Ritchie's relationship with him. Ritchie didn't like being looked down on and purposely went out of her way to annoy her.

She shot Namie a haughty look before purposely shuffling along the couch and climbing on top of Izaya, so that she was straddling his lap like a common stripper. Izaya watched her in amusement but didn't comment. He could often predict Ritchie's intentions and he knew that she enjoyed annoying his secretary.

"Though maybe I can make the exception," Ritchie said loudly for Namie's benefit.

Sure enough, it evoked the response she'd hoped for. "You two make me sick," said Namie in disgust.

"Don't like? Then don't look and don't listen," replied Ritchie hotly, deliberately twisting her fingers into Izaya's hair and tilting his face up towards hers.

"Gladly," said Namie stiffly, abruptly pushing the chair back and getting to her feet. "I'm not going to work like this."

Ritchie watched triumphantly as Namie left. Stupid woman… The secretary had no right to judge her, especially after what Ritchie had heard about her and her creepy, incestuous love for her younger brother. Yeesh.

Once the door had slammed shut Izaya began to laugh. "How rude of you, Ritchie-chan. You chased my secretary away."

"She was pissing me off," replied Ritchie testily. "I wanted her out."

"And a very fine job you did," chuckled Izaya. He pulled a thousand yen bill out of his pocket and tucked it neatly into the waistband of her skirt. "That earns you a tip."

Ritchie raised an eyebrow. "I'm practically giving you a lap dance here – you've gotta pay more than that," she joked.

"I'm still far more interested in our date," said Izaya.

Ritchie frowned. "And what exactly do you have in mind for this 'date'?"

Izaya gave a casual shrug. "Maybe going to the movies."

"How cliché," said Ritchie, sounding disappointed.

Izaya looked bemused. "Well then what would you suggest?"

Ritchie shrugged back. "I don't know. I've never really done the whole dating thing before."

"Then don't knock _my_ ideas, Ritchie-chan," Izaya grinned.

Ritchie's frown deepened. "So what exactly is your reason for wanting to go on an official date?"

Izaya's expression shifted into his best innocent look. "Whatever do you mean, Ritchie-chan? Do I have to have a reason for everything?"

"I'm not saying you _have_ to have a reason… But this is you we're talking about," Ritchie pointed out. "You _always_ have a reason for everything."

Izaya chuckled. "Maybe my reason is simply to keep you interested."

Ritchie sighed. She was never going to get a truthful answer out of him. Izaya took her sigh to be a good response.

"Is that a yes I hear?" he asked teasingly.

"Fine," said Ritchie grudgingly. "We can go on a date."

Izaya's grin widened. "Excellent!" he said cheerfully. "You're not working tonight, are you?"

Ritchie repressed another sigh. "No, I guess we can go tonight."

"You could sound a little more enthusiastic, Ritchie-chan," protested Izaya, pretending to pout.

"I said yes, didn't I? That's the most you're getting out of me," grumbled Ritchie.

She made to climb off his lap, but Izaya wound his arms around her waist and pulled her back. She opened her mouth in surprise but he silenced her by pressing his lips against hers. "Now how about that _real_ lap dance?"

XXX

Ritchie went back home later on the afternoon so that she could shower and change at her place. This left her with two dilemmas – firstly, what to wear on a date? And, more importantly, what to wear on a date with Izaya?

She didn't think he'd particularly care what she wore, but she'd never been on a real date before so she didn't really know what the protocol was for it. She'd only had one other long-term relationship and her boyfriend back then had been too lazy and too tight to bother spending money on dates.

Was this Izaya's real plan behind the date? To stress her out because she didn't know what to wear? Because if so it was working. And that pissed Ritchie off. She'd never worried about anything so trivial before…

That thought cemented her decision. She was going to carry on not caring. They were only going to the movies after all – she didn't really need to dress up for that.

She ended up wearing her favourite red mini skirt, a black lacy top and her black Karen Millen boots. It was pretty much the standard sort of outfit she'd wear for work. Good. She didn't want Izaya to think he'd gotten her to actually put some effort in for him.

She did spray on some of her more expensive perfume and actually ran a brush through her hair, but she told herself that was fine because she generally did that for work anyway. Really.

Once she was ready Ritchie headed towards the movie theatre. She didn't know why they were meeting there and why she couldn't just meet him at his place first – it was virtually on the way! She was sure that this was all just part of his grand plan to annoy her.

Simon was stood on the corner as she passed Russia Sushi. "Miss Honda!" he greeted. "You're off to work early?"

Ritchie shook her head. "Not tonight. I'm just going to the movies."

Simon gave her outfit the briefest of glances with a knowing look on his face. "You have hot date?" he asked, his voice heavily accented as always.

Ritchie grimaced. "Don't remind me."

Simon boomed a laugh. "Still playing Izaya's games, da?"

Ritchie couldn't help a smile. At least some people knew she wasn't exaggerating how difficult her relationship with the informant was. "I try to keep up," she said truthfully.

Simon laughed again. "Just carry on keeping him away from Shizuo. Things have been nice and quiet. No need for fighting."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Ritchie, though she had no intention of doing so. She didn't like things being 'nice and quiet'. Maybe another run-in with Shizuo was just what they needed for some more excitement… "I'll catch you later, Simon."

When she got to the movie theatre Izaya wasn't there. Typical. It was quite cold out and Ritchie still didn't have a coat or jacket of her own. If he didn't show up in the next two-point-five minutes she was going to wait for him inside.

She leant against the doorway, uninterestedly watching people passing by on the street. She wondered how mundane some of their lives were… Were they okay with that? Did any of them constantly crave excitement the way that she did?

As she was watching, one person caught her eye – a tall smartly-dressed man with tidy dark hair, carrying a briefcase at his side. Surprise shot through her. Almost as if he felt her watching, he glanced her way and a flicker of recognition crossed his face, but he quickly looked away and carried on walking. Ritchie stared after him, her mind reeling from the brief encounter. She remembered hearing that he'd moved to Shinjuku…

A hand suddenly passed in front of her face, making her jump. "Earth to Ritchie-chan! You weren't checking out other guys while I wasn't here, were you?"

"Of course I wasn't," replied Ritchie irritably. "You're late by the way."

Izaya ignored her. "So who was he?" he asked curiously.

Ritchie hesitated before admitting, "My brother."

Izaya looked genuinely surprised. "I didn't know you had a brother." For him to not know something like that clearly irked him. It was the basis of his job to gather information after all.

Ritchie shrugged. "I never really had much to do with him. The same with the rest of my family."

Izaya grinned suddenly. "Poor Ritchie-chan and her tragic past," he said patronisingly, patting her on the head.

Ritchie just rolled her eyes. "That would work if I actually cared. My life's hardly been tragic. It was actually pretty cool after my parents kicked me out – I got to live with my… friend."

She stumbled over the word friend, as if she'd been about to add something else. Unfortunately Izaya noticed. He cocked an eyebrow. "Friend?"

"It was a _female_ friend if that's what you're getting at. But we don't talk anymore," said Ritchie shortly.

Izaya's eyebrow rose even higher and his grin returned. "Let me guess," he said in a singsong voice. "You used to be the best of friends but then she did something bitchy and now…"

"She did not!" snapped Ritchie with such force that Izaya actually shut up.

He stared at her in surprise. "You're touchy… What's up with you?"

"Nothing... Can we just go inside already? It's freezing out here," Ritchie complained, hastily changing the subject.

Izaya's eyebrows rose again but he conceded. He'd enjoy trying to scoop out the information himself later on. "Fine. Let's go and pick a movie."

Ritchie followed him into the foyer and over to inspect the board that listed all of the current movies. "Just for the record I don't do rom-coms."

Izaya gave her an amused look. "Do you really think I'd choose a romance movie?"

Ritchie shrugged. "Just thought I'd throw that out there."

Izaya chuckled. "Trust me, you don't need to tell me for me to guess that." His attention returned to the board. "How about this one?"

He pointed to a movie named Ghost Hunt. Ritchie made a face. She'd seen a poster for that one tacked up outside. "I don't do horrors either."

Izaya grinned. "Aww, do they scare you, Ritchie-chan?"

Ritchie flushed and punched his arm, a little harder than she'd intended. "No, I just think they're stupid."

Izaya didn't look convinced. "Well I think we should watch this one," he insisted, rubbing his arm absent-mindedly.

"Why do you get to choose?" protested Ritchie.

"Because this was my idea _and_ because I'm paying," said Izaya simply, waving a credit card in her face.

Ritchie stared at him in surprise. "You're paying for me?"

Izaya laughed. "Why are you so surprised? I'm hurt, Ritchie-chan."

"I'm just confused... Why exactly are you paying for me?" asked Ritchie suspiciously. "I can pay for myself."

Izaya gave a dramatic sigh. "I keep telling you this is what couples are supposed to do."

"And I keep telling _you_ we're not your everyday couple," Ritchie pointed out.

"I guess you're right," said Izaya with another chuckle. "Haven't you ever had a guy pay for you before?"

He intended the question to be sarcastic but Ritchie shook her head. "Nope. I've had random guys buy me drinks in clubs but that's not really the same thing… That's just because they want to get into my pants."

Izaya smirked. "And what makes you think I'm not doing the same thing?"

"You already know you don't have to pay to do that."

Izaya laughed loudly at that comment and teasingly ruffled Ritchie's hair. "Good to know."

Then before she could even protest he danced away from her, over to the ticket booth, and promptly ordered two tickets to the horror movie he'd been looking at. Ritchie huffed to herself and folded her arms across her chest, feeling annoyed.

"You suck. I can't believe you're gonna make me watch such a shitty movie," she said grumpily when Izaya joined her again, looking pleased with himself.

"Aww I'm sorry, Ritchie-chan. I'll hold your hand if you like," he mocked, attempting to catch hold of her hand as they headed over to the movie screen where the horror was showing.

Ritchie swatted his hand away. "I told you I'm _not_ scared!"

But when they got inside the screening room she felt the dread increase in her stomach. She hated these kind of movies. They made her imagination play tricks on her and she always ended up having nightmares.

"Can we sit right at the back?" she requested. She wanted to be as far away from the screen as possible.

Izaya gave her another amused look. "What are you implying, Ritchie-chan? I've heard plenty of rumours about people who sit at the back of movie theatres…"

"Oh just shut up and go," ordered Ritchie irritably, giving him a shove.

She was feeling grumpy again when they sat down. She hadn't even wanted to go on this date in the first place. Now she had to sit through a movie that she really didn't want to see… Though at least she hadn't had to pay for it.

She sat through the movie previews in silence, wondering why they were even here. What possible reason could Izaya have for wanting to go on a date? She knew he always had a hidden motive for everything he did, but she really couldn't figure out what it could be in this case.

She highly doubted he'd been on a date before. Most girls would avoid someone with his reputation like the plague. She wondered if he'd ever actually had any previous relationships…

"Have you ever had a girlfriend before?" she found herself asking.

If Izaya was surprised by her question he didn't show it. He just grinned and simply said, "That's information you'd have to pay for, Ritchie-chan."

Ritchie rolled her eyes and sighed loudly for his benefit. Of course. She hadn't really expected anything helpful. The opening credits for the movie started to roll so she didn't get the chance to try and question him further. Now she just had to figure out how to get through the next hour and a half without paying much attention to the movie…

She slid down in her seat as far as she could without it looking obvious, hoping to try and block the screen with the back of the chair in front of her. She frowned when it didn't work.

She didn't want Izaya to figure out what she was doing, but she really didn't want to watch this movie either. She remembered when Sei had made her watch The Unborn… She'd had nightmares for a week and had been too scared to walk to work on her own. It was pathetic. She should have dragged Izaya away from the ticket booth and forced him to pick something else while she'd had the chance.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His gaze was fixed on the screen. How much pride was she willing to give up to keep from admitting how much horror movies freaked her out? Repressing a sigh, Ritchie snuggled up against Izaya's side.

"What are you doing?" Izaya asked, his tone laced with amusement.

"Trying to get comfy. It's cold in here," Ritchie grumbled, thinking that would be a good enough excuse.

"Are you sure you're not scared?" asked Izaya with a smirk.

"Positive," insisted Ritchie, straight-faced.

Izaya sighed and pulled away from her. Ritchie sat up and gave him a questioning glance, then realised he was taking off his coat. He threw it onto her. "Now will that keep you quiet?"

Ritchie nodded fervently and pulled the coat closer around her shoulders. When Izaya settled back into his seat she still pressed up closer to him again. He sighed a second time.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted a real date," she pointed out quietly.

She felt rather than heard him laugh. "True," he whispered back, obligingly sliding his arm around her.

Ritchie didn't even protest. She'd managed to discreetly arrange Izaya's coat so that the lapel blocked most of the screen from her direct eye line. She could now get away with not watching the movie properly without it looking obvious. If Izaya thought she just wanted to snuggle then so be it. Maybe this date wouldn't be quite as bad as she thought…

Unfortunately it didn't stay that way. Every time Izaya shifted in his seat the coat that Ritchie had so carefully arranged moved too. She ended up seeing a lot more of the movie than she'd wanted to. It had already made her jump twice, which was embarrassing enough. And now she was sure to get nightmares as well.

Overall it wasn't a very fun evening and Ritchie was feeling distinctly moody by the time they'd left the movie theatre. Izaya, however, seemed positively entertained by how bad the movie was. "Don't you think that the people in these movies just deserve to die? If you go wandering around alone in the dark then you're just asking for trouble. Maybe a ghost will try and sneak up on us too…"

"Oh just shut up. It was a stupid movie – let's leave it at that," Ritchie grumbled through gritted teeth. She knew he was purposely trying to scare her.

The movie was already doing its job at freaking her out, without Izaya there to make it worse. She was seeing shadows around every corner and she could swear she kept hearing noises behind them… It was stupid. She walked around on her own at night all the time and it was never a problem. She never worried about the possibility of muggers or rapists or serial killers… But put the idea of ghosts in her head and it made her totally paranoid.

"Can we not cut through the park?" asked Ritchie when they were a block away from the entrance to Rikugien Park. "Hey, are you listening to me?"

She turned to find that Izaya wasn't there. She'd been so busy watching shadows that she hadn't even realised he wasn't still walking beside her. She stopped dead in her tracks. Crap… Was he messing with her? Or was she really being stalked by a ghost that had decided to pick him off first?

She tried telling herself she was being stupid, but she still felt ready to bolt at the next noise she heard. "Izaya? Come on, this isn't funny…"

She had barely taken a few steps when somebody suddenly grabbed her shoulder and murmured into her ear, "Boo."

Ritchie shrieked and wrenched herself away, her heart pounding in her chest. Of course it was only Izaya and he burst out laughing at her reaction. She flushed, feeling angry and embarrassed. "You're such an asshole!"

"You should have seen the look on your face! It was priceless!" choked Izaya, still laughing.

Ritchie huffed and turned away from him. She felt a little of her anger subside but not enough. She'd never seen Izaya properly laugh like that before… It would have been quite pleasant if it hadn't been at her expense.

"Aww I'm sorry, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya teasingly, stepping up behind her and sliding his hands around her waist. He was shaking from trying to repress his laughter.

"Leave me alone," grumbled Ritchie.

Izaya pulled away and turned her around to face him. "Oh really? So you actually want me to leave you to walk back to your place on your own?"

Ritchie blanched at the idea. Walking alone through the dark streets of Ikebukuro didn't sound particularly appealing right now, let alone having to spend the night in her quiet apartment on her own with nothing but bad dreams to keep her company.

"Fine, so horror movies freak me out. So what?" she said, trying to sound defiant. "Was that the real point of this date? To try and scare me senseless?"

Izaya just laughed at her. "Has it ever occurred to you that I may have been telling the truth before? I really did just want to keep you interested."

Ritchie frowned. "Why would you try so hard to keep me interested?"

Izaya sighed and shook his head. "You don't ever listen to me, do you? You're my _favourite human_. It'd be such a pain if you got bored and I had to find somebody else as interesting as you to play with."

"I honestly don't know if I should be flattered or insulted by that," said Ritchie, still frowning. "And for the record, dating isn't really the best way to keep me interested."

"Oh?" Izaya's eyebrows rose, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "And what _would_ be the best way?"

"Just keep on being your weird, twisted self. That's been working just fine."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Quite a light-hearted chapter for a change! I was considering just doing this one as a side story since the mood's a lot lighter than usual, but there's a couple of things mentioned that'll be quite important later on! So it can just stay as part of the main story.

Also it was quite nice to get to write a different side to Ritchie! She likes to think she's such a hardass, so it was nice to play her off as a bit of a chicken in this chapter xD


	13. Hitting The Rocks

When Ritchie woke up she found she was surprisingly warm and content. She shifted slightly – her neck felt a little stiff… And when she opened her eyes she saw why. Instead of the pillow she usually slept on, she was lying on Izaya instead. That wasn't a good sign. She was never normally so comfortable with him…

She pulled away and propped herself up on one elbow. Izaya was still asleep and didn't stir in the slightest. She studied his face for a while. A slight frown creased his forehead, making him look irritated even whilst sleeping.

Ritchie sighed. Damn… When had she gotten in so deep? She wasn't the kind of girl who liked to snuggle. And she wasn't the kind of girl who took pleasure in watching somebody sleep. She was starting to get confused about what she wanted and that was dangerous.

Though after a minute or so of deliberation she eventually curled back up on Izaya's chest. Where was the fun in taking the safe option?

XXX

By the night-time Ritchie had completely forgotten about her morning confusion. She was out with Sei and some of her friends again so right now she was more interested in drinking, dancing and having a good time.

So far she hadn't done much drinking _or_ dancing. She'd forgotten how much fun she could have simply being around other party people like herself. Or even just people who weren't sick and twisted like a certain somebody she knew.

After a while Reita turned up with a group of his friends. Sei disappeared off with him and Arisa and Mena soon followed in an attempt to hit it off with some of Reita's friends. Ritchie was left at the bar with a girl with long honey-coloured hair and glasses, who she was sure hadn't been out with them before.

"Are you not gonna go on the pull with them?" the girl asked her, seemingly surprised that she wasn't the only one still left at the bar.

Ritchie shook her head. "Boyfriend," she said casually. "Plus none of the guys here really do it for me."

"Amen to that," agreed the girl ruefully.

Ritchie smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Ritchie."

"Lexi," replied the girl, giving her hand a good shake.

"I haven't seen you before. You weren't on either of the last bar crawls, were you?" asked Ritchie.

"Nah, this is the first time I've been out with Sei in a while," said Lexi. "I've been doing too many morning shifts to get away with going out much."

"Oh, so you don't go to university with her?" That was what Ritchie had actually assumed.

Lexi shook her head. "We used to work together. How do you guys know each other?"

"From online," said Ritchie hesitantly. She knew that a lot of people thought meeting up with strangers from over the internet was a bad idea. Hell, Izaya had pretty much proved that theory to be right.

Lexi didn't seem to think so though. "That's cool! So are you part of the Dollars like Sei?"

Ritchie nodded. The Dollars were a fairly new gang in Ikebukuro that were completely run online. It had seemed quite an exciting idea, so her and Sei had both joined up straightaway after Ritchie had been sent an anonymous email with the password for the site. So far though not much seemed to have come of it.

"Me too," said Lexi happily. "Do you go in the chatroom much?"

"I haven't for ages," replied Ritchie. "I haven't really been around a computer a whole lot lately… And when I do it's not normally my own." Plus it was too reminiscent of her lifestyle back in Nerima.

Lexi nodded understandingly. "Sei did say you were more of a social bug." She glanced across the dance floor with a bored look on her face. "I'm guessing your boyfriend's more interesting than all the guys here?"

Ritchie grinned ruefully. She liked that Lexi had used the word interesting rather than 'cool' or 'nice', since neither of them would have really fitted in this case. "I guess you could say that." Her gaze followed Lexi's out onto the dance floor. "So what kinda guys do you go for if none of these are floating your boat?"

Lexi gave a casual shrug. "Well I don't do guys who are all into their appearance. I guess I like strong men… But not if they overdo it and end up looking like one big hunk of muscle."

Ritchie made a face. She hated well-built guys. "Me neither – it looks too fake."

They ordered some more drinks and chatted a while longer. The more they talked the more Ritchie couldn't help but think that she knew of someone who would definitely be Lexi's type… Shizuo.

But she didn't mention anything. She liked Lexi and she still saw Shizuo as a bit of an unrefined brute. Izaya had clouded her vision more and she instinctively saw Shizuo as the enemy now – even more so than she originally had. She couldn't match make somebody she liked with the enemy. Lexi could do better.

After a while Ritchie noticed that the two guys Arisa and Mena had been dancing with had branched off on their own. She recognised one of them as Hanabusa – the guy Sei had tried to set her up with. She didn't know the other guy but he kept looking over in her and Lexi's direction.

"Is that one of Reita's friends over there with Hanabusa?" Ritchie asked Lexi.

Lexi glanced over towards where Ritchie was looking. "Yeah, his name's Fujio… something. Why, do you know him?"

It didn't take Ritchie long to make the connection. Sei had told her that Reita's friend who had been hospitalised because of Izaya was called Fuji… Now why did she have a feeling that this was the same person?

She wondered if he knew who she was. She was sure that Sei would have had the common sense not to say anything to Reita, but Ritchie's relationship with Izaya wasn't exactly a secret. There were quite a few people in the city who knew about it now.

Either way, she felt uneasy when she noticed Fuji glance in her direction yet again. "No," she told Lexi. "I thought I recognised him but maybe not…" She then downed the rest of her drink in one. "You wanna go dance for a bit?"

"Yeah, okay," agreed Lexi, her surprised eyes on Ritchie's now empty glass. "Let's go."

They went to dance with Arisa and Mena, who seemed to have gotten bored of dancing with the guys. Ritchie soon grew antsy for another drink, but Fujio was now standing by the bar and she felt that it would probably be better to avoid him.

A glass of luminescent liquid had been sitting on an empty table near them for a while now. Ritchie pointed to it and asked her group if it belonged to any of them. The other girls all shook their heads – finder's keepers – so Ritchie shrugged, grabbed the glass and downed it.

Vodka and some kind of energy drink. Nice.

She managed to collar Sei not long afterwards to get her next drink for her. Soon after that she didn't care about Fujio anymore. Actually she didn't really care about anything… She just wanted to dance and have fun.

But dancing then quickly lost its appeal. She could feel the energy pumping through her veins – she needed to do something more exciting. Something more dangerous.

"We should go do something fun!" Ritchie enthused to Sei the next time she caught hold of her.

Sei gave her an amused look. "Like what?"

"You know, something exciting!"

Sei laughed. "Again… like what?"

Ritchie sighed. Sei didn't get it. None of the girls here would. There was only one person she knew who'd really understand her definition of exciting…

"I think I'm gonna head off," she decided abruptly.

Sei raised her eyebrows. "Are you now? Why do I have a feeling I know who you're going to find?"

"Because you know me too well?" Ritchie grinned.

Sei laughed again. "You really are a head case… Well I hope you have fun!" She was assured by her friend's ability to still speak coherently that she'd be safe to leave on her own.

"You too. Hey, can you give Lexi my number?" requested Ritchie. She hadn't seen the new girl for the last ten minutes. "She seems cool – we should hang out again."

"Sure thing," agreed Sei, giving Ritchie a quick hug. "I'll text you tomorrow."

Ritchie started off power walking to Izaya's place, fuelled by the sugar from the energy drink. After a while the alcohol seemed to hit her a little harder and she slowed her pace as she started to sway more. No big deal. This wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence for her.

When she got up to Izaya's apartment she banged on the door, then leant against the wall to wait. He took a while to answer and when he did he looked like he'd just woken up – his hair was tousled and he wasn't wearing a shirt. He seemed surprised to see her. "Ritchie-chan? I didn't expect you to be back so early."

In response Ritchie threw herself at him, almost knocking him over as she grabbed his face and fastened her lips over his. Izaya staggered backwards a few steps, before managing to peel her away and hold her at arm's length.

"What are you doing? Are you drunk again?" he asked exasperatedly, still a little taken aback by her surprise attack.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted us to be a couple," Ritchie protested half-heartedly, pulling away from him.

Izaya sighed. "You _are_ drunk."

Ritchie ignored him and grabbed hold of his arm. "Don't you wanna go and find something interesting to do?"

"Not right now, Ritchie-chan," Izaya declined. "Unlike a certain party animal, some of us were actually sleeping."

"Come on, don't be boring!" Ritchie whined, tugging at his arm.

"Not now," Izaya repeated irritably, trying to pull away from her.

Though Ritchie was generally quite physical in their relationship, she wasn't normally so clingy. Even when she was drunk – she could be tedious, but not this bad. Yet right now she was clinging to him like a limpet, attempting to bring his face back down to hers again.

"You don't wanna have fun?" Ritchie breathed against his lips.

Izaya frowned. She didn't taste like alcohol the way she normally did when she was drunk. He'd tasted it on her enough times before to know… He pushed her back, holding her at arm's length again so that he could study her face.

"Your eyes are huge. Have you taken something?" he asked suspiciously.

"No I haven't!" Ritchie replied indignantly. She may have had no resistance where alcohol was concerned, but she'd never been into the drug scene. And she was sober enough to remember that.

"So why are you acting so weird if you're not drunk?" asked Izaya, still watching her eyes. She seemed to be aware of what was going on but she didn't look very focused. Her pupils were dilated and glazed over. Something wasn't right…

"I'm not acting weird. I just wanna have fun with you…" said Ritchie huskily, reaching for him again.

"Just stop a second!" snapped Izaya, seizing her by the wrist. "Something's not right with you."

"Let go of me," protested Ritchie, trying to prise his fingers away.

"Maybe you had your drink spiked or something," said Izaya, still scrutinising her face.

"Let go!" repeated Ritchie more forcibly.

Izaya ignored her protests, though he still kept a tight grip on her wrist. "You'll probably be fine by tomorrow. It doesn't look like it's doing you much harm."

Ritchie clearly wasn't listening to him either. "Let go! Let go!" she cried, becoming more frantic. She'd given up on prising his fingers off and was now making a futile attempt to pull away from him.

"What the hell's wrong with you? Just calm down," Izaya ordered irritably. Why was she freaking out like that? It wasn't like her at all. He squeezed her wrist hard to make sure he had her attention.

What he didn't expect was for Ritchie to cry out in pain. Normally she would never have given him that satisfaction. "Stop it! Just let me go!" she pleaded.

Izaya stared at her. Her eyes were almost wild and they were starting to gloss over, almost as if she was about to cry. There was _definitely_ something wrong.

He closed his eyes in disdain and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. He couldn't be bothered to deal with this. What he really wanted was to throw her outside so that he wouldn't have to. But she'd probably get herself hit by a car in this state… And then he'd have to go through the trouble of finding a new toy to play with.

"I'm calling Shinra," Izaya decided finally. "You can wait in here."

He dragged Ritchie upstairs to the bedroom, ignoring her protests and attempts to pull away. He shoved her rather unceremoniously into the room and then shut the door on her. She carried on shouting incoherently but she didn't try to get out.

Izaya hoped Shinra would know what to do – he wouldn't be able to put up with this for long. He stopped to pull on a shirt that he'd left in the bathroom, then went back downstairs to call Shinra. Despite it being late he still answered on the fourth ring.

"Izaya? What are you doing calling at this time?"

"Fancy making a house call?" asked Izaya casually.

"What's wrong? Are you ill?" questioned Shinra.

"It's not me. I've got a crazy woman in my apartment – I think she's had her drink spiked," replied Izaya.

"Wait, hang on… Who's in your apartment?" asked Shinra, clearly confused.

Izaya sighed. "Look, can you come or not? I really don't want the hassle of having to call an ambulance."

"Yeah, okay, I'll get Celty to bring me straightaway," promised Shinra, switching to his professional mode, even though he clearly had no clue what was going on. You had to hand it to him. "We'll be there in ten."

True to his word, Shinra turned up soon afterwards with Celty in tow. Ritchie had quietened down since, but she hadn't left the safety of Izaya's room and he definitely hadn't bothered to disturb her.

"She's up there," said Izaya, jerking his thumb towards the stairs.

Celty keyed in a quick message on her handheld communicator and held it up for Izaya to see. '_Is this Ritchie?_'

Izaya nodded, whilst Shinra peeped over Celty's shoulder to read what she'd put. "Ritchie? Isn't she the girl who works at that Ouhei club? What's she doing here?"

Celty answered for Izaya by typing out another message. '_She's his girlfriend._'

"Hold up, you have a girlfriend?" Shinra exclaimed in amazement.

Izaya rolled his eyes. "Yes. Are you going to treat her or not?" he asked bluntly.

"Aww Izaya, are you concerned about her?" Shinra teased, putting on an exaggerated baby voice. "Do you _lurve_ her?"

Izaya sighed. Shinra was a fool for thinking that mocking him would actually work. "I'm more concerned about her freaking out again and destroying my apartment."

Shinra pouted at him, obviously having hoped for a different answer. "You're so inhuman sometimes, Izaya."

"Exactly."

The underground doctor eventually reverted back to his professional manner and told Izaya to lead the way. Once upstairs they found Ritchie sitting quietly on the end of the bed, staring at the floor in front of her. Her earlier paranoia seemed to have completely disappeared.

Shinra pulled a small flashlight pen out of his bag so that he could check Ritchie's eyes. She remained silent and allowed him to check without disruption. Izaya found her passiveness to be even more unnerving than when she'd been freaking out.

"She's definitely taken some kind of drug, whether it was voluntary or not," Shinra diagnosed. "Her pupils are really dilated, see?"

"I noticed," replied Izaya uninterestedly.

"She seems quite calm now…" continued Shinra, now checking Ritchie's pulse rate. "The worst is probably over, but I'd still keep an eye on her just to be sure. She'll likely feel the after-effects tomorrow."

"I'm not a babysitter," said Izaya irritably.

Before Shinra could reply Celty had already typed out a message and held up her communicator, '_Then we'll take her back with us and__** we'll**__ look after her._'

Shinra laughed. "I think Celty thinks you're being a bit insensitive…" He looked a little awkward. "But we _can_ take her with us if you don't want to keep an eye on her."

Izaya gritted his teeth. He could feel a headache building between his temples – all he wanted right now was to just go back to sleep. But he did want to make sure that Ritchie knew never to come to _him_ if she got into this state again. He wasn't her keeper and he was not going to watch over her a second time.

"No, I'll do it," he said stiffly, surprising them both. "Do I have to give her any medication or anything?"

"Maybe just half a sleeping pill," said Shinra, still a little taken aback by Izaya's decision. "We don't want her to have too many different medications in her system. Half should be enough to help her sleep off most of the effects."

"Right," said Izaya in a bored tone. At least he could just induce her to sleep.

"So I guess we'll be off," said Shinra, picking up his bag. "We'll let ourselves out; you just take care of her. Call me if you need anything."

Celty held up her communicator again. '_And don't be an asshole to her._'

Izaya just waved his hand at her in dismissal. "Whatever."

He strongly suspected that Celty would have punched him for his blasé attitude, but Shinra was already hastily directing her towards the stairs. The doctor really could predict her so well… Izaya rolled his eyes at their retreating backs. Where was the fun in that?

He heard the front door shut behind them moments later, so he went and fetched a glass of water and a sleeping pill from the cabinet in the bathroom. He didn't have the patience to break the tiny tablet into two – he doubted that an extra half would make much of a difference. Either way he was beyond caring.

When he returned to the bedroom Ritchie hadn't moved from the foot of the bed and was still staring blankly ahead of her. After dissolving the sleeping pill in the water he held the glass out to her.

"Drink this," he said bluntly. When she didn't respond or even notice the glass in front of her face he raised his voice a little more. "Are you listening? I said drink, Ritchie."

The added volume seemed to do the trick. Ritchie blinked a couple of times, almost as if she was waking up, before obediently taking the glass from Izaya's hand and starting to drink. After drinking half of the contents she stopped and mumbled something unintelligible.

Izaya didn't understand or care what she'd said. "Just drink it," he repeated exasperatedly.

Ritchie did as he said without any complaints and eventually finished off the drug-laced water. Izaya sighed gratefully – now he could finally go back to bed. He took the empty glass from her and left it back on the sink in the bathroom, after urging Ritchie to lie down and go to sleep.

When he returned to the bedroom once more she was under the covers and already asleep. Thank god... The sleeping pill was clearly working.

Izaya climbed into the other side of the bed without even bothering to undress and purposely turned so that he was facing away from his problematic girlfriend. He was going to have to think about revoking his offer for her to come round whenever she pleased.

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Urgh. I am so, so sorry that I haven't updated in so long… What with all the overtime I've been doing at work, the craziness from recent conventions and the worst bout of writer's block I've had in a looong time, my writing really hasn't been going all that well!

This chapter's been in slow progress for a damn long time now and I'm STILL not happy with it. So I'm sorry if it seems a little rusty… I've been doing a lot of editing to try and make it flow better, but I've kinda reached the end of my tether with this chapter. Hopefully I can redeem myself by the next update!

Thanks again to everyone who's stuck with this – you're all absolute stars 3

Lexi (Lexali Creymale) belongs to my good friend Rukinosan. Hope she doesn't mind the cameo appearance!


	14. Trouble In Paradise

Ritchie woke up the next morning wanting to die. All of her limbs ached, her stomach roiled with nausea, her head felt like it was about to split into two… It was like being hungover, except in this case she could remember everything that had happened.

That wasn't a welcome difference.

She wasn't exactly thrilled to remember that she'd returned from the club to throw herself at Izaya, get rejected and then freak out on him. Let alone the fact that he'd even called Shinra and Celty out in the middle of the night to check on her… How embarrassing.

At least she was alone – she'd opened her eyes to discover that the bed was empty besides herself. She had no doubt that Izaya would take the first opportunity he could to make fun of her.

It took her a very long time to get out of bed and ascertain that she wasn't going to throw up – though her stomach was still suggesting otherwise. She wasn't quite brave enough to risk taking a shower just yet.

The slow getting-up process had taken her over an hour and Izaya still hadn't disturbed her yet. That was unusual… Normally he couldn't wait to rub it in when she did something stupid.

Ritchie put the thought to the back of her mind. What she needed right now was some really greasy, really unhealthy food. She would have preferred the hair of the dog technique, but she knew that Izaya wouldn't have any alcohol anywhere. How had she managed to land a boyfriend who didn't even drink?

She eventually trudged downstairs. If Izaya didn't have any good food in that she could scrounge, her back-up plan was going to be the all-hour fast food joint two blocks down. They did a mean calorie-laden breakfast burger.

Izaya was sat at his computer, seemingly deep into his work. He didn't even look up when Ritchie came downstairs. That was _definitely_ unusual. He always had some annoying comment for her first thing in the morning.

"You must be growing up. Normally you can't wait to rub it in when I'm being an ass," Ritchie commented lightly.

She started to head towards the kitchen but stopped when she realised that Izaya hadn't even replied. She glanced over at him to find that his gaze was still fixed on his computer screen.

"What, no comeback this time?" she asked.

Izaya still didn't say anything. Ritchie frowned. Was he ignoring her on purpose? That wasn't going to work for her… She loved attention. So if there was one thing she couldn't stand it was being ignored.

She strode over towards him and made sure she got all up in his personal space. "Hey, are you ignoring me?" she accused, giving his shoulder a none too gentle shove.

The scowl that was already on Izaya's face increased and he purposely leant away from her. "I would if it was possible to ignore somebody so irritating."

Ritchie scowled back. The insult rolled right off her – she'd heard a lot worse – but his grumpy attitude irritated her. "Geez, what the hell's your problem today?"

Izaya pushed his chair back abruptly and stood up so fast that Ritchie took a startled step back. "_You_. You're my problem." He wasn't shouting, but his usual cheerful manner had completely vanished and Ritchie could see signs of one of his mood swings setting in. He was well and truly pissed.

She stared at him, feeling her own anger bubbling to the surface. "What the fuck did I do to you?"

"Are you really going to ask me that after last night?" Izaya glared back. "Did you think turning up like a drunken idiot was just going to be acceptable?"

"Hey, I was not drunk!" Ritchie protested. "I had my drink spiked; that was hardly my…"

She stopped. Maybe it _was_ her fault… She could distinctly remember the luminous drink she'd adopted from one of the tables near the dance floor when she'd been avoiding the bar. She hadn't even known what was in it. Shit…

Unfortunately Izaya noticed her falter. "Hardly your what?" he pressed. "Are you saying it _was_ your fault that you had your drink spiked?"

Damn. Ritchie scowled to herself, dropping her gaze to the floor and mumbling something about how she may have drank somebody else's drink that she'd found…

Izaya grabbed her by the chin before she could even react and forced her to look at him. "Are you saying that you purposely drank a stranger's drink? Are you really that stupid? Are you really that much of an alcoholic?"

Ritchie glared at him but she didn't pull away. She didn't even have a retort to give. She hated that he was right. Of course she had a problem with alcohol – he didn't need to point it out to her.

"You're not even denying it because you know it's true." Izaya didn't even sound smug about it – his voice was too cold.

"So what?" Ritchie retorted defensively. "That's my problem, not yours."

"It _is_ my problem when you're turning up here wrecked at some ridiculous hour," Izaya argued.

"You were the one who said I was 'free to come here whenever I liked'," Ritchie replied irritably.

"Not in that state!" Izaya countered angrily. "I don't need the hassle of looking after you at three o'clock in the morning."

"Oh, well I'm very sorry," said Ritchie sarcastically. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you decided you wanted me around."

"Well maybe I _don't_ want you around anymore!" Izaya snapped, abruptly letting go of her.

Ritchie reeled back as if he'd slapped her. But she quickly regained her composure and pulled herself together. "You always said how you find me so interesting. Has that just magically changed now?" she asked haughtily.

"It might if I find a new human to play with," Izaya replied cuttingly.

Ritchie stared, faltering again. "So you're just going to replace me?"

"If you keep getting raving drunk and expecting me to deal with you I will," Izaya threatened darkly.

Ritchie clenched her fists, feeling her rage reaching boiling point. He didn't even care about her wellbeing – he just wanted to work everything so that it would suit himself. Or maybe he just wanted to piss her off… Well… Two could play at that game.

"Well maybe I'll go and play with Shizuo instead," she snapped, knowing it was a low blow.

Izaya's eyes went dark. "If you do that you'll regret it…"

Ritchie wasn't really sure what happened next – she was just aware that he'd raised his hand and, thinking he was going to hit her, she instinctively flinched and jerked away from him.

Izaya stared at her, his hand still in the air – he'd only been about to run it through his hair out of frustration. "Did you just think I was going to hit you?" he asked incredulously, the surprise dissolving his anger.

"Of course I didn't!" said Ritchie hotly. "Screw this, I'm going home."

"Ritchie, wait…" Izaya started irritably, grabbing her arm. He wasn't imagining it – he'd seen fear spark in her eyes, no matter how brief it had been.

"Just leave me alone!" shouted Ritchie, ripping her arm out of his grip. Without giving him the chance to say anything else, she turned on her heels and tore out of the apartment.

She ran all the way back to her own place without stopping. Several people made remarks as she passed, but she ignored all of them. She had to stop on the doorstep to find her front door key. Her hands were shaking from anger, making it harder to fit the key into the lock.

When she finally got inside she kicked the door shut, stormed through to her bedroom and threw herself face down onto the bed, breathing hard and willing herself to calm down…

After what felt like ages, she felt her rage beginning to subside. She reluctantly sat up, looking round at her apartment. It was dark and far too cold. She shivered. When was the last time she'd actually been here? When was the last time she'd had to sleep alone?

She gave a cry of frustration and fell back onto the bed again, burying her face in the pillow once more.

XXX

Ritchie stayed in her apartment and sulked till the following day. If only she'd been at work last night… That would have given her something to do. She knew she could have just gone out and hit the clubs like she so often did, but for once she hadn't been in the mood.

She spent most of the next morning lying in bed and watching TV, though she was hardly even paying attention to what she was watching. She felt so disconnected from everything that when her cell phone rang she almost jumped out of her skin. It didn't deter her for long though – she quickly scrambled out of bed to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ritch!" It was Sei.

Ritchie silently cursed herself for being so hopeful. Of course it wasn't going to be Izaya… They were likely over and done with after what had happened yesterday. She then purposely reminded herself that she didn't care about him anyway. "Hey Sei, what's up?"

"Well I've got next Tuesday off work so a group of us are going out the night before," Sei explained enthusiastically. "I was wondering if you wanted to join us."

"Erm…" Ritchie bit her lip, the argument from yesterday still on her mind. Not to mention the fact that she'd had her drink spiked the other night. "I think I'll pass this time."

"Are you sure?" asked Sei, her tone suddenly laced with concern.

Ritchie couldn't help a tight smile. No wonder her friend was concerned… She'd never turned down a night out before in her life. "Yeah, it just might not be the best idea right now," she said, trying to sound casual about it.

Of course Sei picked up on that too. "Okay, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

To Ritchie's horror, she felt a lump in her throat and couldn't quite reply. She could deal with shouting and insults… But people being nice to her? She still found that fairly new.

"Ritch?" Sei pressed when Ritchie didn't respond. "You know you can talk to me, right?"

Ritchie took a deep breath before she replied, trying to compose herself. "Sorry… I just feel kinda crap at the moment."

"Did somebody upset you? Is it that asshole boyfriend of yours?" Sei asked knowingly.

Ritchie managed another small smile. "Got it in one."

Sei made a sympathetic noise. Though she didn't like Izaya out of principal, she still knew all about relationship troubles. "What did he do?"

"We kinda… had a fight," said Ritchie.

"What about?"

Ritchie hesitated. She knew that Sei wouldn't understand the whole thing. Her relationship with Izaya wasn't exactly a normal one… And she definitely didn't want to recount how he'd threatened to replace her.

The funny thing was that he wouldn't even know how much that stung – he didn't know that she'd already had a guy do that to her in the past. The memory still bothered her. She always gave people a lot of attitude, but when it came down to it she still had feelings… She was only human.

"He thinks I drink too much," Ritchie told her friend. At least that part would make sense to her.

"Ah… So that's why you said no to going out, isn't it?"

"Sort of." Ritchie gave a half shrug, even though her friend wouldn't see it.

"Well that's not his problem. You shouldn't care what he thinks," Sei insisted. "If you want to go out and have fun then you should be able to without worrying about anyone else."

It was pretty much the same point that Ritchie had tried to make. "Don't _you_ think I drink too much?"

"Honey, we _all_ drink too much," Sei pointed out. "We're young adults – that's what we're supposed to do! Come on, you're only twenty-two. It's normal!"

That was true. But Ritchie had still always drank more than anyone else. Sei never really noticed quite how much because she was usually the first one to get drunk. Izaya had more of a clue because he was generally the one who witnessed all the after-effects... Which meant that he was right.

Ritchie sighed. She really did hate it when he was right. "I'm just hoping it'll blow over," she told Sei, hoping to try and change the subject. She didn't really feel like she deserved her friend's sympathy anymore.

"I'm sure it will," said Sei positively. "Do you want me to come round later? If I can get off work early I can even grab some takeout for us on the way over."

"No, don't worry about it. I'll be fine," Ritchie lied. She definitely wasn't fine… She had a feeling she was going to have to do some apologising and she _hated_ apologising.

"Are you sure?" asked Sei concernedly. Ritchie insisted that she was. "Okay… But if I get to finish work early I'll still pop round and see you on my way home if you like?"

"Thanks Sei," said Ritchie gratefully. She couldn't really say no twice. "I might see you later then."

She felt both happier and more confused as she hung up. Damn Izaya… Well even if she _was_ willing to apologise she certainly wasn't going to seek him out to do it. She had a bit too much pride for that. Plus she was sure she wouldn't have to see him for a while – he'd been really mad at her.

She spent the rest of the afternoon in her apartment still. After a while she eventually showered and got dressed, then made herself something to eat before settling back down to watch more TV.

When the doorbell rang she glanced at the time on her phone. It was almost five o'clock. Sei had clearly finished early after all… At least Ritchie felt more presentable now that she was dressed.

But when she answered the door she found that it wasn't Sei. And for once in her life she was stunned into silence.

Izaya laughed at the look on her face. "What's wrong, Ritchie-chan? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Ritchie's head was reeling. What was he doing here and why was he in such a good mood? Had she just imagined how pissed off he'd been yesterday? Or was this just another one of his weird mood swings that she could never seem to keep up with?

Okay, there was no question about it. It was definitely the latter.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ritchie, still too surprised to sound suspicious.

"Well it didn't look like you were going to come and see me, so I thought I'd come to find you," said Izaya cheerfully, as though nothing had happened.

Ritchie eventually managed to get some of her attitude back. "I didn't think I was welcome," she said pointedly.

"You're always welcome; what would make you think that?" Izaya enquired theatrically. His innocent look didn't quite reach his eyes. As always, there was something he knew that Ritchie didn't.

She sighed. "I really don't wanna play mind games right now."

"There you go again; you're always so suspicious of me… It hurts my feelings, Ritchie-chan," Izaya pouted, as he wrapped an arm around Ritchie's shoulders and steered her back inside the apartment.

Ritchie felt completely clueless. Was their fight really over? It had seemed like such a big deal and she'd actually been in the wrong – she hadn't even apologised for it. Was this his way of making up and blowing things over? But it didn't make any sense…

"Wait, wait…" protested Ritchie, stopping in her tracks. When Izaya tried to carry on down the hallway she forcefully pushed him up against the breakfast bar. "Just wait a second!"

Izaya looked amused, like he knew what was coming. "Can I help you with something?"

Ritchie hesitated, gritting her teeth. She really didn't want to say it… But she knew that if he didn't say it now then she'd chicken out and probably never would. And, annoyingly, she felt like she owed it to him.

"I'm sorry, okay?" It came out a lot more forceful than she'd intended, but at least she'd said it.

Surprise flickered briefly across Izaya's face – it wasn't what he'd expected her to say – but then he laughed at her. "You don't have to sound so angry about it, Ritchie-chan."

"Just be grateful I said it at all," Ritchie huffed, already regretting it.

"Oh I'm very grateful," Izaya smirked, leaning back against the breakfast bar.

Ritchie couldn't tell if he'd done it on purpose or not, but the way he was reclining emphasised the length of his body. She blew her hair out of her face, feeling frustrated. Well at least one aspect of their relationship would never change… Even when she was pissed off at him, Izaya still always turned her on.

He still looked amused, like he knew exactly what she was thinking. Which Ritchie realised was probably true. He knew her pretty well by now… So it wasn't like she had anything else to lose.

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing herself against him. He didn't pull away. She tilted her head up towards his and… heard her phone start ringing in the bedroom. Talk about timing… She sighed. It was probably Sei. She couldn't really ignore it after her friend had been so nice to her this morning.

The smirk never left Izaya's face. "Looks like I was saved by the bell," he teased.

"Excuse me, _saved_? You know I'd be happy to hit you, right?" Ritchie threatened, disentangling herself from him. "I'll be back; just let me see who it is."

She jogged down the hallway to try and get to her cell phone in time. Thankfully it was still ringing by the time she picked it up. "Hello?" But all she got in response was static. "_Hello_?" She repeated louder.

The line cut off. Ritchie frowned at her phone. Was it a bad connection? She checked her call history to see who it was but it came up as an unknown number. That was weird… She never got calls from unknown numbers.

"So who was it?" Izaya asked over her shoulder.

"Dunno. Unknown number," replied Ritchie, sitting down on the bed and tossing her phone aside. "And did I say you could follow me in here?"

"Does that mean you actually _are_ going to hit me?" Izaya said brightly, jumping onto the bed next to her.

Ritchie snorted. "You'd just love for me to try, wouldn't you?" Everything was such a game to him. "Carry on pissing me off and I just might." Bantering with him could be so tiresome at times.

"Well let's see, where do I start…" said Izaya, pretending to look thoughtful. He glanced around the room. "How about this 50's icon you're so in love with, whose music should have died with him back when…"

Ritchie swung her fist at him, even though she knew he was goading her on purpose. He grabbed her hand like it was effortless and in one swift movement he'd flipped her back onto the bed and straddled her waist. He pinned her free hand as well so that she had no hope of escaping.

Ritchie sighed again, unsurprised by the sudden switch in control. "I should have known you'd do something like that."

Izaya grinned. "Well now that I know you're not going to be running off anywhere…"

"Where am I gonna run off to? I'm in my own apartment!" Ritchie interrupted exasperatedly.

Izaya ignored her and continued. "We're going to talk."

"Seriously? You just want to talk?" asked Ritchie disbelievingly. She could think of plenty of better things to do in a position like this.

Again, he paid no attention to what she'd said. "Let's start with how you thought I was going to hit you yesterday. Now what was that about?"

Ritchie scowled. She really didn't want to talk about that. "Why do you care?"

"I'm intrigued," said Izaya.

Ritchie frowned. "New choice."

Izaya laughed. "So I take an interest in you and that's a bad thing? That's hardly fair."

"Don't care," said Ritchie shortly, attempting to buck him off. Of course it was futile – he had her well and truly pinned down.

Her attempts to throw him off only succeeded in amusing him further. "We can do this all night, Ritchie-chan. You're not going anywhere until you start talking."

"Why do you even care?" Ritchie asked suspiciously. "I mean really."

"Surely that's obvious," replied Izaya condescendingly. "Do I need to remind you what I do for a living?"

Ritchie thought about it – it made sense. She often forgot how his mind must work as an information broker. Of course he was going to behave like a dog with a bone if he thought he was close to discovering something interesting.

"Well I sure hope you don't resort to measures like this with your other clients," she said sardonically.

Izaya chuckled. "No, I admit… You're more of a special case."

"Then I can think of a lot of other things we could be doing right now," said Ritchie pointedly.

Izaya grinned. "Oh yeah?" He leant forward, stopping when his lips were almost touching hers. "So why don't you just talk now and get it over with?"

Ritchie's breathing sped up and she could feel herself starting to ache between her legs. "You're making it more difficult to talk about like this," she said breathlessly.

She felt his grin widen against her lips, but then he sat up. "Okay then. So tell me now and then we can get down to whatever you'd like to do."

Ritchie groaned. Why could he never make things easy? "You really are the devil."

"I take that as a compliment," said Izaya, still grinning. "So what's your deal? Were you in an abusive relationship before; is that it?"

"Of course I wasn't," said Ritchie scornfully. But then she hesitated before admitting, "My friend was though… And I told myself I'd never get into a situation like that."

It was true. She'd always stood by that. She knew that Izaya was a dangerous guy and he could be more than a little rough with her at times… But he'd never actually hit her. In her screwed up mind it made a big difference.

"That's it?" said Izaya, sounding disappointed.

"Well I'm very sorry that I haven't been in an abusive relationship," said Ritchie sarcastically. "That's the truth. Are you happy now?"

Izaya was still watching her thoughtfully. "This friend of yours? Is she the one who you don't speak to anymore?" Ritchie didn't say anything. "Is it because of this that you don't speak to her now?"

"Actually she's the one who won't speak to me," Ritchie confessed before she'd even realised what she'd said.

Izaya regarded her carefully for several seconds longer, then he climbed off of her and sat on the bed next to her. "So what did you do that made her not want to speak to you again?" he asked curiously.

"I glassed her boyfriend," said Ritchie dully.

"You glassed her boyfriend?" Izaya repeated slowly. It sounded a little extreme, even by Ritchie's usual standards.

"He was an asshole!" Ritchie exclaimed, suddenly angry. She sat up abruptly. "He made Maddie's life miserable – she was terrified of him. And then he was actually stupid enough to hit her in front of me! I wish I'd gouged his eyes out!"

"I take it that's one of the occasions you were arrested before?" said Izaya calmly, not at all bothered by her sudden outburst. He was getting more information than he'd expected.

"Yeah," grumbled Ritchie. "Thankfully the police were on my side for once. They knew something dodgy was going on because of Maddie's black eye, so they arrested that jerk Ezio as well… But she wouldn't say anything against him. She even vouched for him to get out of jail but she… she didn't vouch for me." Ritchie finished a lot more quietly than she'd started.

"So let me guess… She hasn't spoken to you since?" said Izaya.

"Right," replied Ritchie miserably.

Izaya sighed. "You're no fun when you get all mopey like this."

Ritchie shot him an irritated look. "You're the one who made me talk about this." She sat hugging her knees in silence for a while before finally asking softly, "You're not really going to replace me, are you?"

Izaya smiled. "Would you be jealous if I did?"

"What do you think?" Ritchie snapped. "It wouldn't be the first time a boyfriend's done that to me… I don't know if you've ever had someone replace you before but it's really not that fun."

"Ooh, so I happened to say something you already have a complex about?" said Izaya. He seemed quite entertained by the idea.

"You could sound a little more guilty about it," Ritchie responded sulkily. She'd actually been open with him for once _and_ she'd even apologised to him. What more did he want her to do?

"Well if it helps I didn't actually mean it," Izaya shrugged. "I have way too much fun messing with you."

Ritchie rolled her eyes theatrically, but she couldn't help but feel a little pleased. It was probably the closest to sincere he'd ever get. And at least it sounded like he did still want her around. "You're _almost_ being nice; I'm not sure if I like it."

Izaya grinned wickedly. "Do you want me to be nasty instead?"

"Nasty, naughty, petty, spiteful, wicked, wayward, way delightful, bad guy you were born to be," Ritchie quoted lightly.

Izaya laughed. "What was that?"

"It's a song… Never mind," said Ritchie. She certainly wasn't going to mention the title of the movie that it was from – Izaya already gave her a hard time over her Stitch collection.

Izaya raised his eyebrows but he pointedly continued, "Either way I'm not the only one here who most of those things apply to." Ritchie just shrugged in response – she could hardly deny it. Izaya smirked. "No wonder you're such a hardass… With both boys and girls ditching you for other people… It clearly sucks to be you."

He said it so matter-of-factly, sounding almost patronising. No trace of sympathy whatsoever… But strangely enough, that made Ritchie feel a whole lot better about it. She didn't like to dwell on and complain about the past. She didn't really do moping – it wasn't much fun. Which was why she always tried to avoid letting anything similar happen again.

"Why do you think I like to be the one in control?" she said pointedly.

Izaya gave her a dangerous smile. "Oh really?" He suddenly lunged at her and pinned her back down to the bed again. "I hate to break it to you, Ritchie-chan… But you're not the one who's in control here."

Not if Ritchie could help it. "We'll see about that, _Iza-kun_," she replied jeeringly. The words tasted horrible the moment she said them – even though she'd just been mocking him – and she regretted it straightaway.

Izaya started laughing, both out of amusement and disbelief. "Did you really just call me _Iza-kun_?"

"Don't worry, I won't be doing it again," grumbled Ritchie.

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Wow, sorry for how lengthy this one ended up! I clearly got a little carried away. Too many subtle but important points I dropped in here… I really can't wait to write the next chapter! ;D Plus it was fun to write a different side to Ritchie again - she's more complicated than you'd think!

And for anyone who gets Ritchie's song quote (without Googling it) I FRIGGIN' LOVE YOU 3 I just couldn't help including it – I figured if she likes Disney she's definitely gonna be a Don Bluth fan too!

Sorry if there's any mistakes or flow issues – my beta reader hasn't had chance to go through this yet and I really wanted to get it uploaded tonight. I'll come back and change things if I need to.


	15. Turning The Tables

Over the next week when Ritchie _did _drink she made sure it wasn't around Izaya and also that he wouldn't have to endure the after effects from it. There was no way she was quitting alcohol cold turkey but, annoyingly, she knew that Izaya had had a point in their last argument… So she was trying her best to compromise.

Of course he could never make things easy for her.

She'd still passed on Sei's offer to go out, just to prove that she could do it and that she did have some self-control. But she soon regretted it – drinking by herself in between seeing Izaya just wasn't the same. She decided that what she needed was to chill in the club after one of her shifts. She hadn't done so for a while and she missed it.

Plus she'd had a text from Lexi, saying that she and some friends were meeting up for a drink and that she'd convinced them to meet at the Ouhei club – where Ritchie worked. She figured that hanging out with Lexi would be a nice change of pace.

So she'd pre-warned Izaya the day before that she wasn't going back to his place after work that night. That way she didn't have to worry about what time she got back or how drunk she was. In her mind that was the perfect compromise.

Her shift seemed to last a lot longer than usual – probably because she was willing it to be over. She tried spotting Lexi from her position on the pole, but as usual the stage was shrouded in what was supposed to be sultry smoke, which made seeing anything more than a foot away a bit of a challenge.

When she was finally allowed to leave the stage Ritchie headed straight for the bar first. Once she'd acquired a very alcoholic drink she set off around the edge of the dance floor, looking for her newest friend.

She didn't have far to look – she spied Lexi sat in one of the booths at the side of the dance floor with three other girls. She waved when she spotted Ritchie and motioned for her to join them.

"Hey guys, this is Ritchie – the girl I told you about. She works here at the club," Lexi introduced. "And these are my friends – Shiori, Ellie and Naomi."

"How's it going?" Ritchie greeted, as she slid into the booth besides Lexi.

She couldn't help but think that this was what she'd been intending to do for a while – make new friends in this city. She couldn't just rely on Sei all the time, especially when her friend had her own boyfriend to entertain. Maybe this would be a positive turn of events for her.

"So what's it like working in a club?" Ellie asked conversationally.

"It's pretty much my ideal job," Ritchie admitted with a smile. "I get paid to dance and I get as many free drinks as I want."

Lexi laughed. "I don't think I'd be able to drink enough to make the most out of it… I definitely didn't have a chance of keeping up with you the last time."

"I've had a lot of practice," said Ritchie truthfully.

"Were you okay last time I saw you?" Lexi asked. "You suddenly disappeared… Sei said you'd gone back to your boyfriend's or something."

"Yeah, I'd just drank too much," said Ritchie offhandedly. She didn't feel like going into the whole story of having her drink spiked, especially in front of strangers. It wasn't a very good example of her common sense. "He wasn't too impressed about it."

"Aww, you should have stayed out with us instead!" Lexi enthused. "You could have kept me company – all the others were still adamant about pulling that night." She rolled her eyes.

"Sorry about that," Ritchie couldn't help but smile, understanding completely.

It wasn't fun being the only one on your own when everyone else was splitting off into couples. And hell would freeze over before she brought Izaya out with her friends – even if Sei's boyfriend _hadn't_ already had a problem with him. Luckily she knew that Izaya had no interest in going clubbing and that the issue wouldn't ever come up.

"We should just arrange a girl's only night at some point," suggested Shiori. "No pulling allowed."

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Lexi. She looked to Ritchie. "Are you in? Do you reckon we can keep you and Sei away from your boyfriends?"

"Easily," replied Ritchie. She reckoned she could convince Sei pretty easily and she certainly had no doubts regarding herself.

"Awesome. I guess that would mean less drama too," Lexi added. "Sei said something about your guys not getting on?"

"Yeah, something like that," said Ritchie casually. "I don't think Sei's told Reita who I'm dating, but I know they've had… problems in the past." It was a total understatement, seeing as Izaya had apparently gotten Reita's friend hospitalised.

She wasn't sure how much to get into it around strangers. Her relationship with Izaya wasn't a secret at all, but his reputation was definitely infamous. She wondered what sort of reaction she'd get from people who knew of him… And whether she'd actually care. She'd never had very distinct morals, and some of the stories she'd heard about Izaya's antics didn't bother her like they probably should have done.

But it seemed like she was going to have to get into it anyway, because Ellie asked curiously, "So I take it you're not dating someone from Sei's group of friends? Anyone else we might have heard of?" Ikebukuro had a strange repute for people constantly crossing paths.

"Yeah, you seem to have quite a high standard for guys, don't you?" said Lexi, recalling the conversation they'd had about guys the last time they'd met. She sounded approving.

"I'm not sure if high standard's the right way to put it…" said Ritchie truthfully. Izaya certainly didn't fit that. "But he's an information broker… And a full time weirdo."

"You don't mean Izaya Orihara, do you?" Lexi asked in surprise.

Of course – once again Izaya's reputation had preceded him. Ritchie couldn't help a rueful grin. "Who else? Only I could find someone as insane as him."

"I heard he's evil," Naomi announced stonily. It was the first time she'd spoken since Ritchie had sat down.

Ritchie wasn't fazed. "You heard right," she agreed with a half shrug. No sense in lying about it.

The other girls all looked sceptical. Ellie raised her eyebrows. "If you think your boyfriend's evil then why are you with him?"

"Because he's fun," Ritchie confessed.

A little excitement in life was all she'd ever wanted… So it seemed like a good enough reason to her. The others clearly didn't agree – Shiori and Ellie exchanged a quick uncertain glance, and Naomi still sat in surly silence. Even Lexi looked a little apprehensive.

Ritchie found that she didn't mind at all. She'd been judged all her life, by worse things before. The questioning of her sanity wasn't a topic that bothered her in the slightest.

"Don't worry, I've always been a little tapped," she said lightly. "That's nothing new for me."

Just like that the awkward silence was broken and the girls simply looked sheepish instead, besides Naomi who still wore the same sullen expression. Ritchie chose to believe that that was her regular look and continued to take no notice of the girl's unspoken hostility towards her. Lexi was happy to change the subject.

"So how long have you been in Ikebukuro for now?" she asked. "I remember you saying that you moved here from Nerima."

"Err, about eight months now I think," said Ritchie. The realisation surprised her and she had to count the months in her head. "Yeah, eight months." Another startling realisation was that she'd been dating Izaya for five months now – close to rivalling the longest relationship she'd had previously.

"Is Nerima a nice place?" Shiori enquired.

"I guess so… If you like living in a city where nothing ever happens," said Ritchie ruefully. "What about you guys? Have you always lived in Ikebukuro?"

Ellie shook her head. "I used to live in Shibuya with my family, but I moved here a while back."

Shiori nodded along with her. "I was actually raised in the United States. We moved to Japan before I was due to start at middle school."

"I've been here for most of my life but I was born in Italy," Lexi added on top of that.

Lexi then politely turned towards Naomi for her input, who still wasn't really participating in the conversation. But she obliged grudgingly and simply said, "I've always been here."

Ritchie couldn't help but wonder what the last girl's problem was… Or how well Lexi actually knew her. The conversation had threatened to turn stale again though, so she quickly downed the remainder of her drink. "I'm gonna go to the bar. Does anyone want anything?"

The other girls all declined – each of them still having at least half of their drink left… Huh. Ritchie had had a full drink when she'd joined them and it had still disappeared a lot quicker. Maybe Izaya had more of a point than she'd thought…

But that still didn't really lessen her desire for another drink. She headed over to the bar regardless, but was dismayed to see a small crowd of people around the new bartender at one end whilst the rest of the bar was empty. Kosuke was supposed to have been working the same shift as the new guy – where had he disappeared to?

When she reached the deserted end of the bar she noticed Kosuke's head bobbing about behind it. "Kosuke, what are you doing down there?" She tried leaning over the bar to get a better look.

Kosuke turned and straightened up when he heard her. "Oh hey Ritchie… Someone dropped a bottle of jager back here; it was almost full as well. I'm just trying to clear up all the broken glass."

Nearly a whole bottle of jagermeister? What a waste. "Don't suppose you fancy taking a cleaning break and serving me?" Ritchie asked hopefully.

Kosuke just laughed at her. "If I serve you I'll have to start serving everyone else. Here, I'll just let you in through the end and you can make your own drink – you know where everything is. Just stay right at the end or people will think you're serving."

"Thanks boss," said Ritchie in surprise, as Kosuke pulled back the little door for her.

"And don't drop anything," he added. "I don't need anymore to clean up."

Ritchie gave him a withering look. "Do you really think I'd carelessly waste alcohol?"

"Point taken."

Ritchie sidestepped round behind the bar, trying not to draw attention to herself as she grabbed a glass and a can of Red Bull from one of the refrigerators. She'd only just picked up a bottle of vodka when she heard an all too familiar voice.

"I didn't know you moonlighted behind the bar as well."

Ritchie nearly _did_ drop the vodka. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just passing by," said Izaya innocently, climbing onto the stool facing her.

"You were not!" Ritchie didn't believe him for a second. "You knew I was staying out here tonight!"

She felt the anger rising – she'd actually been making the effort to not drink around him… Now on the one night she was allowed to drink as much as she liked he'd turned up out of the blue, no doubt in an attempt to ruin her plan. Well she was making no such compromise tonight… She was going to drink whatever she liked.

"You make it sound like I'm purposely gate crashing your night. I'm offended, Ritchie-chan," Izaya pouted theatrically.

"Give it a rest; we both know that's exactly what you're doing," Ritchie grumbled. "And you can't stay. I'm here with other friends."

"Ah yes, I noticed you with them earlier." So he'd apparently been here watching for a while. Creep… "You could do with better company."

Ritchie rolled her eyes. "So you don't want me hanging around with other people… What a surprise."

"You'd do well to listen to me, Ritchie-chan," Izaya advised. "I'm only looking out for your wellbeing."

Ritchie raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? So you're not just sulking because I'm choosing to spend time with someone else rather than you?"

Izaya ignored her comment and turned on his stool as he continued more loudly. "In particular, I'd stay away from that dark-haired one on the end if I were you." He pointed across to the booth where Lexi and the other girls were sat, which they could just about see from this side of the bar.

Ritchie realised that he was talking about Naomi. Was this something to do with the resentment that the girl had shown towards her? "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because I'm telling you to," Izaya said simply.

Ritchie scowled. "That's not a reason." She then remembered Naomi's comment about him. "Tell me the truth. How do you know her?"

"Oh I don't actually know her," replied Izaya. "But I do know who she is through association. So I'm saying again that it would be better for you if you steered clear of her."

Ritchie knew that she wasn't going to get more of an answer than that. But between Naomi's attitude towards her and what she'd said about Izaya she knew that there was actually some genuine truth behind his words, even if he wasn't going to elaborate. So for once she actually listened to him.

"Fine. I'll go back over in a bit and tell them I've gotta run," she said grudgingly, as she poured out a generous measure of vodka. She was still having at least this one drink before she left.

"Good girl," Izaya smirked.

Ritchie ignored him and set the bottle to one side. She turned to get the can of Red Bull that she'd grabbed earlier and, as quick as a flash, Izaya suddenly seized the glass of vodka before she could get to it and downed it in one. It clearly didn't have the reaction he'd expected though and he choked in surprise as the vodka burned down his throat.

"What the hell are you doing?" exclaimed Ritchie, more astonished than annoyed.

"How can you drink that?" Izaya gagged. "It's disgusting."

"I _don't_. I have it with mixer," said Ritchie, pointedly holding up the can of Red Bull. "You just drank double strength vodka straight. Even I don't do that unless I'm already hammered."

Izaya coughed, trying to clear his throat and chest of the awful burning sensation. "It tastes like paint thinner."

Ritchie raised an eyebrow again. "Do you drink a lot of paint thinner?"

"You know what I mean," grumbled Izaya, coughing again.

Ritchie felt the uncontrollable urge to giggle, but she managed to force it away. She was sure that he'd downed the vodka to stop _her_ from drinking it, but it had clearly turned out a lot worse for him. Whereas she could just easily make herself another drink.

She couldn't quite keep the amusement from entering her voice though. "That'll teach you for stealing my drink. Hang on, I'll get you some water."

She grabbed another glass and turned back towards the refrigerators. But instead of getting a bottle of water she poured out more vodka instead, concealing it from view. She handed it to Izaya, who took it gratefully and promptly took a large swig. He choked again and only swallowed half of it, spitting the rest back into the glass. Ritchie couldn't help but laugh this time.

"Did you just trick me into having more?" he spluttered.

"Well you drank the first one voluntarily; I thought maybe you'd caved to the peer pressure and decided to take up drinking," Ritchie smiled innocently.

Izaya couldn't help but chuckle in response. He cleared his throat roughly. "And they say that _I'm_ the most dangerous person in this city."

Ritchie took that as a compliment. "I'll get you some real water this time."

She took one of the bottles from the refrigerator and gave it to him. He still gingerly sniffed it after unscrewing the cap. "How do I know you haven't spiked it?"

Ritchie just laughed at him. "It was sealed!"

"I still don't trust you," said Izaya, taking a sip. He was pleased to find that it was just water.

"That makes two of us," replied Ritchie, taking the glass of vodka that he'd pushed back towards her in distaste. She poured in some of the Red Bull that she'd still been holding. She'd swapped saliva with Izaya many times – drinking his backwash didn't bother her. Vodka was still vodka. "Now unless you want more than I'm drinking this one myself."

"You can have it," said Izaya ruefully. He certainly didn't want anymore of that foul stuff. "Do what you want with your liver, but I'd rather mine stayed intact."

Ritchie took advantage of his words and made herself a second drink as well as two shots of sambuca. She pushed them all across to the other side of the bar so that she could come back out. A few people had started meandering down to this end, but Kosuke was still on his knees collecting the shards of glass. She didn't want to have to try and serve other people.

She pulled up a stool next to Izaya, who was still nursing the bottle of water. "So what are you _really_ doing here?"

"Getting intoxicated, apparently," he replied cantankerously.

"Hey, don't act like that's my fault. You drank the first one yourself," Ritchie pointed out, before knocking back one of the shots. She held out the other one temptingly. "Sure you don't want one of these too?"

"I'll pass."

"Suit yourself," said Ritchie, as the second shot followed the first.

"You know, when I said you could make yourself a drink I didn't mean a whole round for four people," said Kosuke, finally straightening up with the dustpan in his hand.

"This would _not_ supply four people," Ritchie countered.

Kosuke just shook his head. A few people had already spotted him and were heading over. "I'll let you off if you do me a favour."

"I'm supposed to get free drinks anyway," protested Ritchie before even hearing what the supposed favour was.

"That's why I said favour."

"Fine. What is it?"

"Can you go empty this out in the alleyway?" Kosuke held up the dustpan full of glass. "I don't think either me or Kenji are gonna be able to get away anytime soon, and it'll just end up getting knocked over back here."

"Yeah, sure," agreed Ritchie, hopping down from her stool. That was definitely an easy payment for free alcohol.

"Are you sure you can be trusted not to drop that, Ritchie-chan?" Izaya taunted as Kosuke handed her the dustpan.

"Well from what I can see I'm much more steady on my feet than you are right now," said Ritchie pointedly, raising her eyebrows. Izaya already looked unsteady on his stool. "Just stay there; I'll be right back."

Izaya gave her a non-committal wave of the hand and turned back to his water. Ritchie sighed. Double strength vodka clearly still wasn't enough to break through Izaya's infuriating personality. She headed out through the back exit of the club to deposit the broken glass into one of the recycling bins. The trip couldn't have taken more than two minutes, but by the time she got back to the bar Izaya had disappeared.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…" Ritchie muttered to herself. Once she managed to catch Kosuke's attention she passed the empty dustpan back over to him. "Do you know what happened to the guy who was sat here?"

Kosuke shook his head. "Sorry Ritchie, I don't. Was he a friend of yours?"

"I've never quite decided," replied Ritchie. Kosuke gave her an amused but questioning look. "Never mind. I'll have to catch you later."

So where had Izaya ran off to now? Ritchie grabbed both her drinks from the bar and headed back over towards the booth where Lexi was sat with the other girls, drinking the first vodka and Red Bull as she was walking. When she got there it was virtually gone, so she quickly necked the last few swigs.

"Was that drink even worth it?" asked Lexi in amusement, as Ritchie put the empty glass down.

"Every drink's worth it," said Ritchie adamantly. "Listen, I'm looking for… a friend." She decided not to say that it was Izaya specifically, not in front of Naomi. "He just turned up but now he's kinda disappeared on me. He's fairly tall, dark hair, wears a fur-lined coat… Don't suppose any of you have seen him?"

As she'd expected they all shook their heads. "Sorry, I don't think so," said Lexi apologetically.

"Is he drunk or something? Maybe he just went outside," Shiori suggested.

"I honestly couldn't say," said Ritchie. But knowing Izaya it wouldn't be something so simple – wherever he'd disappeared to Ritchie was sure it wasn't going to end well for somebody… And it would probably be her. "I'm gonna go see if I can find him."

"Well report back and we'll keep an eye out for him," Lexi promised.

"Thanks guys."

Ritchie set off again to scope out the dance floor in search of Izaya, carrying her remaining drink with her. She was starting to feel irritated – she was sure that he was up to something… Why would he have followed her here to then just disappear? She could never usually figure out his motives for anything that he did anyway, but this in particular was beyond her.

When she was halfway through her drink she still hadn't spotted him anywhere. She'd checked both bars, been outside, circled the dance floor twice… She'd even stuck her head into the men's bathrooms, only to get jeered at by a couple of creeps.

By the time she'd finished her drink she was feeling extremely annoyed. Maybe he'd thought it would just be funny to go home and leave her wondering where he was… Well screw him; she was going back to Lexi and her friends.

Luckily she'd just set her empty glass down on one of the nearby tables, because somebody suddenly barrelled straight into her. She staggered sideways and one of the heels of her Jimmy Choos snapped as she tried to right herself. She stared down at her shoe in horror. Sure, they were old… But that didn't make them any less sexy. Or expensive.

"Asshole!" she cursed, whirling round. "Look what you…" Of course it only made her angrier when she saw who it was. "Izaya, you jerk-off! You destroyed my Jimmy Choos!"

However, Izaya was completely oblivious to her anger. "Ritchie-chan!" he exclaimed cheerfully, throwing his arms around her and crushing her against him.

"What are you doing?" spluttered Ritchie, trying to pull away. "Are you drunk or just faking?"

She tried to work out how much vodka she'd poured into that first glass. She reckoned he'd drank the equivalent of about four shots… And that was double strength without mixer – certainly enough to get somebody drunk, especially a non-drinker.

But this was Izaya they were talking about. She couldn't really imagine him being affected by something as mundane as alcohol.

"Faking what?" Izaya pulled back slightly, looking completely nonplussed. Ritchie could see that his eyes were glazed over. Huh… Maybe he really _was_ drunk. Well this could be interesting…

"Never mind," said Ritchie. "Can you let go now?"

"Nope," grinned Izaya, locking his arms tighter around her waist.

"Come on, quit being an idiot," Ritchie protested, half-heartedly pushing on his chest. "You're not normally so…"

Her words were cut off as Izaya abruptly forced his mouth onto hers. Ritchie stiffened. It wasn't like their usual style of kissing – it was rough and kind of sloppy, almost bordering on unpleasant. She'd never have thought she'd think that about making out.

She pulled back sharply, pushing against him at the same time. "Quit it! Now let me go or I'll have to slap some sense into you."

Izaya sighed and reluctantly unwound his arms from around her. "You're no fun, Ritchie-chan."

"I'm plenty of fun – I'm just not a fan of sloppy kisses," Ritchie argued. "Come on, let's get you some more water…" She couldn't believe she was actually being the responsible one for once. Normally it was her who had to be force-fed healthier liquids.

"I've got a better idea!" Izaya decided suddenly, grabbing her hand and pulling her in the opposite direction.

"Hey, wait a second!" Ritchie objected, staggering in her uneven shoes as he dragged her along. She bid a hasty farewell to her poor broken heel out on the dance floor. "Where are we going?"

"To see if we can find some excitement!" exclaimed Izaya. He was scarily upbeat, even for him.

He pulled her outside through the back exit of the club, into the alleyway where Ritchie had gotten rid of the broken glass. It was also the place where they'd first met. It seemed like such a long time ago. Eight months… Had much even changed since then?

"Come on, let's go up!" Izaya enthused, indicating the wall opposite them. The same wall that he'd made Ritchie scale once before. Well _he_ clearly hadn't changed after all this time.

"Are you kidding me? You'll end up falling off the roof!" Ritchie protested. "Or I will," she added as an afterthought. "I can't really do much in these shoes now."

"That's okay, I can carry you," Izaya suggested brightly.

"You're _joking_. Don't be stupid," said Ritchie scornfully. "How do you expect to climb a flat wall _and_ carry me at the same time? Not that I'd let… Hey!"

Izaya had flung his arms around her again and lifted her up off her feet in a very awkward hold. Ritchie was sure that she was going to end up on her ass on the floor.

"Put me down, you idiot! This is never going to work!" she shouted, trying to wriggle out of his grip. She couldn't believe the way he was acting… Alcohol tended to affect people in different ways. Apparently it just made Izaya all the more infuriating – in every sense of the word.

She'd probably made him more unbalanced by struggling so much, but either way when one of her kicks landed on his knee Izaya suddenly lost his footing and they both toppled over into the collection of empty boxes stacked against one of the walls.

Izaya just started laughing, apparently finding it amusing. Thankfully he'd given Ritchie a soft landing, but it didn't make her any less annoyed. As she tried to get up he pulled her back down so that she fell on top of him again.

"Seriously, what are you playing at? You're being _ridiculous_!" she scolded him. "Thank god you don't normally drink!"

Izaya's laughter quickly subsided, leaving his trademark smirk behind. The transformation was quite surprising – he suddenly seemed to be back to normal. "So do you get my point?"

Ritchie faltered. "What point?" she asked suspiciously.

"Isn't it extremely tedious having to take care of someone when they're drunk?" Izaya commented pointedly, the grin still on his face.

Ritchie stared at him. Was he saying what she thought he was? There was still a slight glaze over his eyes but he seemed to be completely aware of what was going on now. She sat up slowly. He didn't try to pull her back down this time. "Are you serious? You were putting it on the whole time?"

Izaya's grin widened as he sat up too. "Well done, Ritchie-chan. You finally caught on!"

"Jerk." Ritchie gave him a hard shove so that he fell back into the boxes again. She couldn't believe he'd fooled her. Izaya simply laughed again. "And I was actually worried that you were gonna do something stupid and end up breaking your neck!"

"Aww, and here _I_ was thinking you didn't care about me," Izaya teased, sitting up a second time.

"Shut up," grumbled Ritchie, getting to her feet. "You owe me a new pair of shoes by the way. Expensive ones."

"Such a materialistic world you live in," Izaya sighed, shaking his head. He followed suit and clambered up too. "Though I guess we can only try and break through your habits one at a time."

He turned to head back towards the door and stumbled briefly, before quickly regaining his composure. Unfortunately it didn't go unnoticed and Ritchie stared after him. Izaya had the best coordination out of everyone she knew. He _never_ stumbled.

"Hang on a second…" she skipped after him awkwardly in her broken shoe and grabbed onto his arm. The sudden movement pulled him more off balance and he staggered a second time. "What the… You're all over the place!"

"Well maybe it's because you're pulling me around," Izaya accused, though he still seemed off. Ritchie inspected him closer and saw that his pupils were more dilated than she'd thought.

"You _are_ drunk!" she exclaimed in surprise. "You may have been putting all of that on before but you're _still_ drunk."

"Believe what you want to, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya indignantly, not agreeing to anything.

Ritchie just smiled to herself knowingly. Some people just refused to admit when they were wasted. "Yeah, whatever." She took his arm as they headed back inside the club. If she could keep pulling him off balance it would be even more entertaining. "I sure hope you have a hangover tomorrow."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Gahhh I'm so glad I managed to get this finished! I'm actually jetting off to America for three weeks on Friday so I'm afraid there won't be any updates until after then! So sorry for being lax on replies and stuff too. This chapter hasn't been through my beta reader either, so sorry if there's any mistakes or flow issues that I've missed!

This chapter was INSANELY fun to write! Definitely one of my favourites so far! Also a little thank you to the people whose OCs I was allowed to borrow. They've only really had small parts so far but I plan on making them more recurring characters like Sei.

Lexali Creymale belongs to Rukinosan

Shiori Murakami belongs to NilesDaughter

Ellie Jacobson belongs to FlawlessNobody


	16. Poetic Justice

When Ritchie woke up the following morning she was disappointed to see that she hadn't gotten her wish. She'd woken up to an empty bed, which wasn't unusual – she was generally the late riser out of the two of them. When she got up and moved downstairs she found Izaya sat at his computer.

"Morning, Ritchie-chan," he greeted her brightly in his usual faux cheery manner. His dark hair was sticking up on one side like he'd been tossing and turning, but other than that he seemed as right as rain.

Ritchie couldn't believe it. He'd been so out of it by the time they'd gotten back to his place last night that she'd had to literally help get him into bed. She'd been so sure that he'd be ill today… She'd been _hoping_ for it. The amount of times he'd purposely harassed her when she'd been hungover – she would have given anything to be able to do the same.

But no. The damn tyrant was completely fine and it was highly unlikely that he'd ever touch alcohol again. She'd missed her opportunity. Unless maybe she could find a way to tie him down and force feed him tequila…

"How are you_ not_ ill?" she grumbled.

"Because I'm not like you. I happen to be a bit more hard-wearing." Izaya shot her an amused look. "You're actually upset that I'm not, aren't you?"

"Well you'd totally deserve it," insisted Ritchie, heading for the kitchen so that she could ransack the fridge. She may not have been hungover either, but she always craved greasy food on mornings after she'd been drinking.

"Was I a pain last night?" asked Izaya. He sounded positively thrilled by the idea.

"You don't have to sound so happy about it," said Ritchie.

"It just shows my lesson worked," said Izaya smugly.

"Yeah, yeah…" Ritchie still didn't get what kind of guy purposely got drunk to show his girlfriend how annoying it was… But then the fact that she was comparing Izaya to _normal_ guys was clearly the problem. "Hey, you want some of this?" She held up a pack of bacon that she'd pulled from the fridge.

Izaya made a face. "No thanks."

Ritchie just shrugged, neither understanding nor caring about his distaste. It wasn't like it was too early or anything… Either way she definitely wanted a nice hot sandwich, so she set about buttering some bread before she started cooking. She hated overcooked food and she had a nasty habit of burning things if she didn't pay attention to it.

Izaya soon joined her in the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Ritchie had just been wondering if he was as well as he was acting – he seemed a little quieter than normal – when he asked cheerfully, "So does it bother you that I can clearly handle alcohol better than you can?"

"Yeah right," Ritchie snorted. "If I'd had as little vodka as you had last night I wouldn't have even been drunk."

"Believe what you want," said Izaya airily. "You've still been far worse than me before."

"Whatever." Ritchie rolled her eyes. "I'm still pissed at you for ruining my shoes. You owe me some new ones."

"Collateral damage, Ritchie-chan," Izaya insisted.

"Collateral damage, my ass!" exclaimed Ritchie, giving him a shove. "Don't try and get out of it."

She pushed Izaya about all the time, to which he'd usually push back or make some annoying remark. But to her surprise he didn't respond quite the same way this time. Instead all of the colour drained from his face. "Don't do that," he warned her in an odd voice.

Ritchie frowned. That was very unlike him. "Hey, what's up with you?" she asked, scrutinising his face. "You've gone really pale."

It was like flicking a switch. Just like that, he seemed to revert back to normal. "Aww, are you actually worried about me? Do you want to play doctor and patient?"

Ritchie sighed. "In your dreams." He still looked very white, but there was no doubt that his annoyingly jovial manner had returned in all its glory. Maybe she'd imagined it… "Are you _sure_ you don't just feel a little bit fragile this morning?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ritchie-chan," Izaya scoffed. "I told you I'm not as fallible as you."

Ritchie just rolled her eyes again. "If you say so." Tired of the seemingly pointless conversation, she turned her attention back to the bacon she'd been intending to cook before Izaya had distracted her.

By the time she'd finished putting her sandwich together Izaya had disappeared upstairs. She wondered if he was maybe still a little drunk… It was possible – she'd certainly had plenty of experiences with that herself on following mornings. It would explain his weird behaviour. And he'd already shown last night that he could disguise the effects somewhat.

She wolfed down her sandwich in a matter of minutes. She'd always had a hearty appetite for her size, and she certainly didn't waste time with ridiculous mousey nibbles like most girls seemed to. Plus right now she was more interested in where Izaya had disappeared to.

She was hoping to find him passed out somewhere upstairs in some ungainly position – that would certainly be an opportunity she wouldn't want to miss out on. But what she _did_ find was even better…

When she'd discovered that the bedroom was empty she'd then checked the bathroom. Izaya was kneeling next to the toilet and vomiting into the bowl. The damn troll had been faking his wellbeing all along.

"You asshole, you _are_ hungover!" exclaimed Ritchie, though she was more pleased than annoyed. She should damn well think so! "You still think your little lesson was a good idea?"

Izaya spat bitterly into the bowl. "Well I can't say I was really planning on this part," he admitted grouchily.

Ritchie grinned. Now this was justice right here. "I hate to tell you but as much as you like to think otherwise, you're still just human like the rest of us."

Izaya didn't respond to her comment. Eventually he sat back and rested the side of his face against the cool steel of the bathtub. "How do you do this so often?"

Ritchie moved across to sit on the edge of the bath next to him. She tousled his hair playfully. God, was it good it being this way round for once… "Years of practice," she told him.

Izaya didn't even try to move away from her hand. Damn, he really was ill... It was wonderful. "And you think it's worth it just for one night of intoxication?"

"Every time," said Ritchie without hesitation.

Izaya closed his eyes. "You're a strange human, Ritchie-chan."

"Actually that's one of the few things that makes me normal," Ritchie disagreed, remembering what Sei had said to her before about how it was natural for twenty-two-year-olds to drink loads.

Izaya just made a non-committal noise in response. Though still amused, Ritchie felt the slightest pang of sympathy. She knew from many, _many_ personal experiences that hangovers weren't fun – especially the first ones. She certainly wasn't turning soft on him by any means, but this was at least something she could sympathise with.

"You want some water?" she asked.

Izaya gave her a baleful look through bloodshot eyes. "You're not going to spike it again, are you?"

He looked and sounded so pathetic that Ritchie couldn't help but laugh. "Well they say that the hair of the dog is the best technique…" she started teasingly, but Izaya just groaned at the mere thought of more alcohol. She laughed again. "I'm kidding. I promise it'll just be water."

Izaya sighed. Even he knew that lying was one thing Ritchie didn't really do. "Okay then."

Ritchie complied and got up. "It's not like you'd have any alcohol here that I could spike it with anyway," she pointed out. That was the dullest thing about Izaya's apartment – zero alcohol.

"For all I know you probably carry some around with you," replied Izaya sardonically.

Ritchie just rolled her eyes and ignored his last comment. He was clearly still behaving like himself at least. She went back downstairs to fetch her piece offering of water, still smiling to herself. For once she'd gotten exactly what she'd wanted. There was nothing sweeter than payback.

When she returned Izaya hadn't moved an inch and his eyes were closed again. Had he fallen asleep? Ritchie crouched down next to him and examined him closer, trying to decide. She set the glass of water down on the floor and reached out tentatively to try and poke him.

"Don't even think about it," said Izaya without even opening his eyes. Yep, he was definitely still himself.

Ritchie grinned. "Yeah okay, warning heeded." She slid the glass of water closer towards him. "Your water's right next to you. Don't spill it or you'll have to clean it up yourself."

"Charming."

"And trust me, manual labour's no fun when you're hungover," Ritchie warned him, still grinning.

"I'll take your word for it," said Izaya. He then sighed. "So tell me… Am I boring like this?"

"A little bit, yeah," said Ritchie. She decided not to tell him how amused she was by the whole situation. That would be more fun later on when he was in a better state of mind.

The barest smirk crossed Izaya's lips. "So you really _do_ see what it's often like for me then." He made it a statement rather than a question. Ritchie could see what he was doing and it had absolutely no effect on her.

"True… But unlike you I drink for pleasure, rather than trying to teach someone some weird-ass lesson," she pointed out. "So why don't you tell _me_… Do _you_ think the hangover's worth it?"

"…I haven't decided yet."

Ritchie just laughed and mussed Izaya's hair again teasingly. He shot her an annoyed look but still didn't make any attempts to move. Oh, this really _was_ fun. "Well try and recover soon," she told him, echoing words he'd once said to her. "I wouldn't want you to suffer _too_ much."

This time it was hard for Izaya _not_ to catch on to the amusement in her voice. "You won't be laughing later," he grumbled, though his ridiculous state just made his threat all the more amusing.

"Oh I think I will be."

XXX

Annoyingly, Izaya was right. Ritchie _wasn't_ laughing later on. The entertainment value soon wore off when she realised that Izaya really was dull when hungover. Worse still, it just proved his point even more.

She knew she could have quite easily just left and found something to do elsewhere… But it was highly likely that this was the only hangover Izaya would ever get – she wanted to make the most out of rubbing it in as soon as he was well enough for her jibes to sink in properly. Sure, she'd already made a few jokes at his expense… But it wasn't quite as fun when he couldn't bite back.

The last time she'd been to check that he was still alive she'd found that he'd fallen asleep on the bathroom floor. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Hopefully when he woke up again he'd be feeling more sociable. But until then, at least, she'd have to entertain herself.

She occupied herself with his computer for a little while, but the appeal of that didn't last. Before she'd moved to Ikebukuro surfing the net and chatting to people online had pretty much been the peak of her social life, living in such a quiet little town. She didn't want to fall back into those times again.

She sighed and lounged back in the chair, putting her feet up on the stack of box files under the desk like she always did. She kicked one of them back into place a little to make her footrest more sturdy. Why did Izaya even have so many of these things? It wasn't like he was businessman, driven by paperwork. He was only an information broker.

Only an information broker…

Ritchie glanced up at the stairs. She had a golden opportunity here… The files put together by an information broker? They were bound to be full of interesting stuff. Maybe even stuff that she could use to her own advantage.

The apartment was still quiet. Izaya wasn't likely to be rising any time soon… Though he'd always pretty much allowed her to just wander about the apartment and do as she wished, she would never have dared to start going through his things with him around… But right now he was out for the count and she certainly wasn't going to pass up the chance to snoop.

She pushed the chair back and grabbed a couple of the box files, bringing them up onto the desk. She spent the next hour going through all of them. She eventually ended up running to fetch her phone so that she could copy out some of the more interesting information that she'd found. Once she'd finished the box files she made a start on the folders in the bookcase at the back of the room.

She definitely found out some fascinating stuff. Dirt on people she'd actually heard of in the city, scandals about people she didn't know, information on who was in the Dollars, the Blue Squares, a disbanded gang called the Yellow Scarves… All the while she still paid close attention to any noises from upstairs.

Ritchie couldn't believe how much she'd found out in the space of a few hours. She should have tried to do this much sooner! She had no idea how she could use any of this to her advantage yet, but some of it was just too good to waste and forget about. She made sure she made notes of anything she thought could possibly come in handy later on.

She didn't dare venturing upstairs with her search in case Izaya woke up. She had plenty to go on downstairs still. She managed to comb the whole of his study before he'd even stirred. Besides all of the files she didn't find anything else of interest though. His personal life seemed to be really quite dull… That or it just wasn't documented like his work life. The latter definitely seemed like the more likely option.

The only other curious thing she discovered was that one of the cabinets in the study was locked. Izaya's work files were all quite easily accessible when you thought about it, but for some reason he was determined to keep the contents of this cabinet a secret.

Ritchie hadn't found a key anywhere during her search and she didn't know how to pick locks. The key was likely hidden away upstairs somewhere, but that was quite dangerous territory right now. She just had to accept that this was one thing she wasn't going to find out about… At least not yet anyway.

She finished off her investigations in perfect timing. She'd only just flopped back onto the couch, wondering what she could do next to occupy her time, when Izaya appeared on the stairs. He'd changed his clothes and looked much healthier than he had earlier.

"You look better," Ritchie observed, feeling that bite of amusement again at how the tables had turned for once.

"Of course I do," replied Izaya casually as he dropped down next to her on the couch, once again acting like nothing had even happened. Well now that he was more talkative and had all the colour back in his cheeks Ritchie wasn't going to let it slide this time.

"Don't try and act so peachy – you were a wreck this morning," she reminded him.

"Well that's what you're like most mornings," Izaya pointed out.

"You can't be all high and mighty about that now that you've been in the same state too," Ritchie protested. "Hypocrite."

"I can when I know it won't be happening again," countered Izaya. "For me, at least."

Ritchie rolled her eyes. Geez, was every other thing just going to be another dig at her? "What a shame," she said, only partly out of sarcasm. She then grinned involuntarily. "You really were ridiculous last night. Besides the shoe destroying incident, it was actually quite amusing."

Izaya raised his eyebrows, apparently not impressed that his plan hadn't worked so successfully after all. "Oh really?" he asked sceptically.

"Really. I kind of wanted to point you in the direction of Shizuo and see what would happen," Ritchie said teasingly.

Izaya put on his best hurt look. "That's not very nice. We all know what a big brute Shizuo is – he could have easily killed me if you had."

"Well that's what I was counting on," Ritchie pointed out, attempting to sound indifferent about it.

"You're so heartless, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya dramatically. "Wouldn't you be upset if I died?"

"Actually I think it would be quite entertaining."

A smirk lit up Izaya's face as he tried to decide whether she was being serious or not – that was all just part of the fun after all. He leant in towards her, forcing her to lie back against the couch. "Really now? Then maybe I'll have to change your mind about that…"

As always, Ritchie was happy with _this_ particular turn of events. "Take your best shot," she dared.

Izaya's smirk widened and he obediently inclined his face closer to hers. Ritchie was the first to close the gap between them, fisting both hands into his hair and pressing her lips hard against his. She was grateful to discover that he'd found the time to brush his teeth before coming downstairs.

She pushed her tongue into Izaya's mouth, exploring the inside of it. All the while her mind was still alight with all of the information she'd found out. Information that _Izaya_ had found out. Her whole body buzzed from the idea that she really _did_ have the most interesting, exciting lover she could have ever hoped to find. And excitement was the one fixation that always did very powerful things to her.

With the sudden peak in desire she felt the need to speed things up. She kissed and nipped at Izaya's mouth with more force, her hands moving straight for the belt hooked through his jeans. She'd only just unbuckled it when he pulled back slightly, chuckling. "Ritchie-chan… Anyone would think you're some kind of sex addict."

"You were the one who started it," argued Ritchie. Technically. Kind of. _Why_ was he stopping her now?

"And then you thought you'd try and take control. Naughty, naughty," Izaya taunted, capturing both of her hands.

"And y_ou_ just decide to keep right on fucking talking," groaned Ritchie. She really didn't want to play games right now – at this moment she had more appealing ideas in mind.

Izaya just continued to grin at her in amusement. "So why don't we talk about something you _are_ addicted to?"

Ritchie groaned again. Why did he always insist on doing this to her? He'd force her into a position that she couldn't get away from and, quite honestly, didn't _want_ to get away from… And then he'd just start yappering on about something that was probably best avoided.

She said as much out loud. "Why do you always do this to me?!"

"Because it's fun," replied Izaya simply, still grinning like a jack-o lantern.

Ritchie rolled her eyes. "I'm sure," she said dryly. That was his answer for everything. "Didn't we cover this subject already? I thought your stupid little lesson was meant to be the end of it."

"Don't be silly, Ritchie-chan," mocked Izaya. "That was only the beginning."

Ritchie sighed. Of course it was. "So what are you trying to get at?"

"What _I_ think is that you should try not drinking alcohol… at all," Izaya proposed.

Ritchie raised her eyebrows, wondering where he was going with this. "And why should it matter to you? The only issue you ever have with it is that I piss you off if I come round here when I'm still drunk. But I compromised with that and purposely never drank around you or came back here if I'd already had too much… So what's the problem?"

"You're missing the point," said Izaya, almost condescendingly. "This isn't for me or even for you. I just want to see if you can do it."

Ritchie made herself count to five in her head, resisting the urge to scream at him in frustration. "You're still not really explaining the _why_ here."

"You don't know me at all, do you Ritchie-chan?" Izaya tutted.

"Why don't you humour me then?" said Ritchie, still trying to sound calm. This really wasn't the best sort of time to start up a proper conversation with her.

Izaya's grin returned. "Gladly." He forced her back even more so that was lying down completely on her back, using the weight of his body to effectively keep her pinned down. He held her hands back over her head. "Are you sure you're listening?" he asked teasingly, voice low.

Ritchie gritted her teeth, feeling increasingly annoyed and even more turned on. He never exactly made it easy for her to concentrate. "I swear I will find some way to hurt you if you don't get on with it."

Izaya laughed. "Glad to see I've got your attention. Now listen up… I'm sure you at least know that I _love_ humans. And I also love to see humans in different circumstances – particularly ones that could prove difficult to them… I've never seen an addict quit their addiction cold turkey before. I think it could be quite… interesting."

Ritchie stared up at him, unimpressed. "So you basically just want me to be a guinea pig?"

"Basically," agreed Izaya, seemingly pleased that she'd caught on.

"Not happening," said Ritchie shortly without having to think about it. It wasn't like there was anything in it for her.

Izaya looked amused. "Don't think you'd be able to do it?"

"I could if I _wanted_ to," said Ritchie pointedly. "But I _don't_ want to give up alcohol forever just for some stupid game of yours."

"Oh it wouldn't be forever," Izaya corrected her cheerfully. "This is only an experiment after all. Say… for a month?"

A month?! Fuck, that was still a long time… "_So_ not happening," Ritchie repeated with more emphasis.

"Really? What a shame," said Izaya in the same bright manner, not sounding the least bit disappointed. "Then I guess there's nothing else for it." He released Ritchie's hands and in one swift movement he'd pushed himself off of her and scooted down to the other end of the couch.

Ritchie felt a pang of dissatisfaction. Wasn't he even going to finish what he'd started? Despite Izaya's irritating habit of striking up conversations at the most inappropriate of times, she'd been more than happy with the rest of the situation they'd been in. Well if she had to chase him herself then she would.

Izaya watched in amusement as she crawled along the couch after him. But when she reached him he held up a finger. "Ah, ah. Bad Ritchie-chan," he taunted, waggling his finger at her. "If it's not alcohol you're giving up then maybe there are… other things you can try going without."

Ritchie just stared at him again, stopping in her tracks. Was he giving her a _ban_ on sexual activities? "Are you seriously saying what I think you're saying?"

Izaya still looked bemused. "What do _you_ think?"

Ritchie couldn't believe it. What kind of person did that? "Screw you then," she said, slumping back on the couch and glaring at him. "You're an asshole. Are you really that desperate to get enjoyment out of some weird experiment?"

"Consider me guilty – I can't help it if I get bored sometimes," said Izaya casually with a shrug. "And I have to find entertainment somewhere, since you're clearly unable to handle giving up your one vice…"

"Of course I'm not," said Ritchie hotly. "I just don't _want_ to do it. Don't try and goad me."

"Why; is it working?" grinned Izaya.

"_No_," replied Ritchie stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest and sitting in irritated silence for a while.

Izaya followed her lead, though he still seemed thoroughly entertained by the whole situation. He pointedly reclined back on the couch. He had the annoying ability to do it so that his posture emphasised the length of his body in long perfect lines. Ritchie knew that he was doing it on purpose… But she couldn't seem to make herself completely ignore it.

She was reluctant to give in and open her mouth, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to help herself. "So say I _did_ agree to the first… experiment," she started, pointedly not looking at Izaya now. She knew the exact smug look he'd have on his face. "Can I still indulge in other 'vices' then?"

"I suppose you could," said Izaya, his tone now heavy with amusement.

"Good."

Before Izaya could even react Ritchie had all but leapt across the couch at him, pushing him down roughly onto the cushions and straddling his waist. The briefest flicker of surprise crossed his face before it was quickly chased away by his usual smirk.

"If I'd have known you were this eager I'd have stipulated _two_ months for the experiment," he said teasingly.

"Tough, we're sticking with the first one," said Ritchie shortly. "I'm gonna agree to this whole no alcohol thing so that I can prove to you that I _can_ do it. I just have one other condition…"

"And what's that?" asked Izaya, still grinning.

Ritchie pressed a hand firmly over his mouth. "Absolutely no talking for at least the next half hour."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

I've kinda fallen out of the habit of writing detailed author's notes lately, so I'd just like to use this to seriously apologise for how long it's taken me to update this!

Life's been pretty hectic ever since my holiday in the summer. Right now it's kind of at a peak. My dad's just come out of hospital after having a big operation (I'm not saying this to get sympathy, just to let you know where everything stands right now – he's actually doing really well considering!) He can't walk without crutches at the moment so I'm having to do a LOT around the house to help out since my mom always works late.

Aaand on top of that I've been having to do loads of overtime at work because of the store refit we have going on right now. Seriously awful timing! T_T So right now I just write whenever I get the chance, but I don't get as much free time as I used to. Hopefully things will be getting back to normal by Christmas, but until then I'm still not gonna stop!


	17. One Jump Ahead

Quitting alcohol entirely was not easy… If it had been anything other than her pride at stake then Ritchie wouldn't even have bothered with it. As it was, she was determined to prove to Izaya that she _could_ do it. Even if she had to resort to drinking at least several cans of energy drinks a day just to stay sane.

And what made the situation even worse was that Izaya had been increasingly boring over the past few weeks. He'd clearly been onto some new gossip that had interested him, because he was away from his apartment more and more… And when he _was_ there he was usually absorbed by whatever was on his computer screen.

This did not bode well for Ritchie's already agitated state, brought on by her withdrawal symptoms from the absence of alcohol. Things with Izaya were always interesting – everything always came down to a new game, a new challenge, a new fight for control… He'd been the most exciting thing in her life since she'd moved to Ikebukuro, as much as she hated to admit it.

And now that he wasn't playing ball anymore it was making her extremely frustrated. She couldn't find the same level of excitement elsewhere… Nothing else was quite the same. She'd come to rely on his interesting lifestyle entirely and that realisation just annoyed her even more.

She'd conceded that whatever Izaya was working on, he wasn't going to let her in on it. Not yet anyway. Like everything else, he'd work it to his own advantage. Well screw him… Maybe she didn't want to know what it was. She'd just have to make her own entertainment… But that was easier said than done.

Hanging around the club after her shifts didn't really appeal to her now that she could no longer drink. She wasn't really _that_ dependent on alcohol – she'd had plenty of nights out in the past where she'd barely drank anything without even realising – but wanting what she couldn't have just made her feel permanently pissed off.

She was _so_ glad that she had Sei to rely on right now. Sei had sympathised with her situation – she'd learnt how dull it could be when your boyfriend was occupied with other things back from when Reita had bought his first electric guitar. He hadn't left his apartment in two weeks and when he had it had only been to buy more guitar picks.

So she understood the whole thing perfectly. And she made sure that she put plenty of time aside to try and help Ritchie satisfy her boredom. It wasn't quite the solution Ritchie had wanted… But she was still grateful. And short of Izaya going back to normal, it was the best she could ask for.

"How many of those have you had?" Sei asked as Ritchie grabbed another can of energy drink, having only just discarded the one she'd finished moments before.

"Only three today," Ritchie replied, cracking the ring pull on her fourth one.

Sei laughed. "Are you telling me that's an improvement?"

Ritchie grinned back. "You'd be surprised."

Sei just shook her head, still chuckling. "You're gonna end up overflowing our recycling bin!"

So far they'd spent the evening in their pyjamas, watching Disney movies. It was a typically girly sleepover, which was unusual for Ritchie, but she found that she actually really enjoyed it. It was a nice change. At first it had caused a pang of sadness, since it had been Maddie who she'd used to watch Disney stuff with… But after a while Ritchie had completely forgotten about it.

She'd realised that Sei was actually _way_ more fun to watch them with. Her friend also came up with the amusing anecdote that there was at least one 'slut character' in every Disney movie, even the animal based ones.

"Just look at her! That lion is totally on it!" exclaimed Sei, as they watched Nala recline back in the leaves with a rather sultry look on her face.

Ritchie felt like she hadn't laughed so much in ages. "I'm never gonna be able to watch this the same way again!" she chastised her friend. "Or Robin Hood or Peter Pan! Or…"

"The Fox and the Hound?" Sei suggested before exploding into giggles.

"You can talk!" Ritchie teased. "From what I heard you only agreed to be set up on a blind date with Reita as soon as you heard that he was hot. That's totally what Vixey did!"

"Shut up, I'm not some slutty fox!"

"Well you're certainly no innocent Cinderella!"

After throwing insults at each other for a while they concluded that Sei was Snow White, since she always seemed to like short guys – Reita himself was only about an inch taller than Ritchie was – and that Ritchie was Meg, since she had 'attitude problems' as Sei put it. Only a good friend could get away with saying that.

And Ritchie couldn't help but feel that she was right on the money. She may not have had a Hercules, but she certainly had her own Hades. And of course as soon as she mentioned it that was where the conversation then turned to.

"Urgh. He seriously fucks me off sometimes," Ritchie groaned, lying back on Sei's bed after her friend had asked how the 'dry patch' was going.

"Well maybe if you hadn't gone for such an asshole…" Sei started suggestively.

"Sei…" Ritchie warned. "Not helping."

"Sorry," Sei conceded quickly, putting her hands up in defence. She then smiled. "You don't like it when I insult him, do you?"

"Insult him all you like. I don't care – I do it all the time," said Ritchie uninterestedly. "What I _don't_ like is the thought that you're insulting my intelligence." She knew that Sei was actually right to do so, but she wasn't quite prepared to admit that aloud.

Sei bit her lip. Though she'd had more time to get used to the fact that her friend was dating the city's notorious intel broker, she still wasn't happy about it and she certainly didn't approve. But she knew that no amount of telling Ritchie that was going to make her change her mind. It was her friend's decision. She had to accept that.

She knew that Izaya had done a lot of cruel things to people, but he didn't seem to treat Ritchie badly at least… So Sei supposed grudgingly that it could be worse. So unless that card was turned then she was going to at least _try_ to be supportive.

She sighed. "How about we just call you clinically insane instead?"

Ritchie smiled up at the ceiling. "Yeah, okay. I guess that would be appropriate… Though in my defence he's generally the one who makes me that way."

Sei smiled sympathetically. "You're really hating this dry spell, aren't you?"

"I really am. It's so fucking frustrating!" Ritchie complained. "The worst part is that he's not even doing this on purpose... He's onto something big and that's all he's interested in right now. I don't even care what it is – it's just made him so incredibly _boring_. I know I shouldn't have to rely on him for fun, but… I guess I just do."

Sei frowned, trying to process Ritchie's rant. She still didn't understand the twisted relationship that they had – not to mention the _fun_ that Ritchie talked about – but she knew that her friend had gotten herself in deep and that that wasn't going to change anytime soon… In the meantime she had to try and offer her a solution to her current boy troubles.

"Right…" Sei sat up into a cross-legged position. "I'm gonna help you find a solution to this… What's your favourite thing to do with your evil-ass boyfriend?"

Ritchie sat back up as well, raising her eyebrows. She didn't even comment on the 'evil' remark. "Well I think the answer to that is pretty obvious…"

Sei made a face. She did _not_ want to picture that. "No, not that! From what you've told me about him I doubt he's the type that could be seduced by you just putting on a skimpy outfit or some sexy lingerie…"

"Not to mention I already do both of those anyway," Ritchie pointed out.

"Exactly. You need to lure him away from his work somehow though," Sei explained. "And it'll have to be something unique to him since he's such a weirdo… What does _he_ like doing then?"

"Messing with people," said Ritchie without having to think about it. "Ruining lives, being a nosy-ass bastard, playing with Shizuo Heiwajima…"

"Hang on, what was that last one?!" Sei spluttered.

"You've heard of Shizuo Heiwajima, right? The bartender?" Ritchie prompted.

"You mean the freakishly strong guy who everyone knows would happily strangle your boyfriend to death if he ever got his hands on him?" said Sei pointedly, raising her eyebrows.

"Yup. He already tried that before," said Ritchie nonchalantly. Of course that had sort of been her fault, but water under the bridge…

"Yet your informant friend likes to… I'm sorry, _what_ exactly?"

"Provoke him into chasing him, throwing things, starting fights with other people…" Ritchie explained drolly. "Basically he just likes to annoy the crap out of him."

Sei didn't seem to know what to do with that information. "Right… Somehow I don't think we can use that…"

But it gave Ritchie an idea. Okay, trying to get Shizuo involved probably wouldn't work out that well… But it was the chase that Izaya seemed to like. So maybe she could provoke him into chasing her instead? She had a feeling that if she made it into an actual challenge that he wouldn't turn it down.

She explained as much to Sei, whose eyebrows rose even further. "So you're telling me that you and your weirdo boyfriend enjoy running across the rooftops like they do in Agrabah?"

Ritchie grinned. At least she wasn't the only one who made random references to Disney movies. "Something like that."

She half expected Sei to question her sanity again, but instead she just laughed. "Alright then. If you think it'll work then who am I to say otherwise? And if it doesn't then I guess you'll have to get the monster bartender involved as well."

"As weird as it is, I think Izaya would actually love that," said Ritchie, pulling a face. "But personally, I'd _much_ rather keep this a game for two."

XXX

Ritchie showered at Sei's the following afternoon before leaving straight for Izaya's. It was times like these when she felt that it was quite pointless having her own apartment. She rarely spent any time there anymore… The only times she did was when she'd had a fight with Izaya. And surprisingly, that wasn't very often. Not a real fight anyway.

As he usually had been lately, Izaya was on his computer when she got there. He wasn't surprised to see her, since she spent so much time there, but there was little interaction after she'd arrived. So Ritchie whiled away her time on her phone – used to this way of filling her time – texting Sei more about her idea and trying to plan out what to put in the note she was going to leave for Izaya. She had to make it good if she wanted it to work…

She had an evening shift at the club tonight, which meant a boring start since it was generally pretty empty during the evening. But it also promised an early finish. And that fitted in with her plan just perfectly.

So when the time for her to leave rolled around, she folded up the note she'd written with a feeling of excitement. She felt like she was arranging some kind of secret meet-up… Only this wasn't really the type of rendezvous that most couples would plan.

Ritchie got up and strode purposely over to Izaya's desk. She planted the note in front of him, causing him to look up and raise his eyebrows at her. "What's this?"

Ritchie avoided answering the question. Instead she ran her hand through one side of Izaya's hair, then leant over slightly so that she could speak into his ear. "Read it after I've left."

Despite how uninterested he'd seemed in her lately, Izaya looked amused. "Colour me intrigued, Ritchie-chan… Just what are you planning?"

"You'll see," said Ritchie teasingly, nipping at his earlobe before straightening up. "I'll be seeing _you_ later." And with that she left for her shift, feeling confident that what she'd written in her note would be enough to make it work.

'_I know how much you like toying with people – me especially. So how about a real game of cat and mouse? I finish work at midnight. Catch me if you can._'

XXX

The moment that the clock hit midnight Ritchie was off the stage and already out through the back doors into the alleyway. If Izaya was here and up for the challenge then the game had began. If he wasn't… Well, she could always use it as an excuse for exercise. Plus she knew that if this game didn't catch Izaya's attention then nothing would. So she was going to make it count.

She threw herself at the wall opposite, scaling it as fast as she could. She'd swapped to fairly more sensible shoes this time in preparation. They were still high heels – she couldn't imagine wearing anything else for work – but they could manage climbing and running quite a bit better than the stilettos she'd been wearing the last time she'd done this.

Once she was up she wasted no time in jumping across to the next nearest rooftop. She carried on at the same speed, leaping the gaps between apartment and office blocks, until she reached one that was too far to jump. There was a fire escape on the building she wanted to get to. All she had to do now was find a way back down to the ground.

She chose the side of the building that seemed to have the most window ledges and began making her descent, quickly but carefully feeling for every foothold below her. If anyone was up at this time and looking out of their window then they were going to have a bit of a surprise.

Once on the ground, Ritchie dashed across the alleyway that she'd ended up in and started climbing up the rickety metal fire escape on the other side. She made sure she kept her speed up. She still had no idea if Izaya would actually be following her, but she was going by the possibility that he was and she wasn't going to give him any advantages.

As soon as she was up on the roof again she leapt over to the next building on the left. She'd spent a good deal of the night before planning the route that she'd take. She and Izaya had been round this way quite a few times before, so she wanted to try and take a less obvious direction.

After another few minutes of crossing rooftops Ritchie was aware that she was being followed. She didn't waste time looking back. Who else would be following her on her crazy race? Instead she grinned and carried on running. The cat had taken the bait.

She pushed herself to increase her speed even more. Izaya was fast – she knew that well. If he'd already found her this quickly then the game wasn't going to last much longer unless she started throwing in some curveballs… And she really didn't want the game to end just yet.

Crossing two more gaps, Ritchie then took a dive down onto the next building's fire escape. She was grateful she'd chosen shoes with strong heels – they absorbed the impact quite nicely. She took the stairs three at a time until she reached the bottom, then darted down one of the tight alleyways.

There were old storehouses on either side, one of them already in the process of being demolished. Ritchie ran at the wall on her right and kicked off from it, using it to propel herself through the window opposite, rather than having to slow down to climb through. She ran through the empty, half-destroyed building and back out through the other side, where she then climbed the scaffolding as fast as she could to get back up onto the rooftops.

She was sure that Izaya couldn't have known to follow her this way. And she hadn't heard him along the shortcut she'd just taken… This kind of game was as much about speed as it was about diversions and making good, fast decisions.

As she took the next breach with a running leap she couldn't help but remember Sei comparing the idea to Aladdin. Of course anything Disney suited Ritchie just fine. She smiled to herself. "One jump ahead of the slowpokes. One skip ahead of my doom…"

But there was no doom involved here. Ritchie wasn't worried about falling. She had no misconceptions about the possibility of slipping or miscalculating distances. She'd done this plenty of times before. This time was no different. The only worry she had was when she'd finally have to stop and the game would be over…

_One trick ahead of disaster. They're quick but I'm much faster. Here goes – better throw my hand in, wish me happy landing, all I gotta do is __**jump**__._

She sailed through the air and landed easily on the next rooftop in line. She was starting to get breathless now, but she was just so _happy_ doing this. Nobody else could possibly understand… But it was all about the freedom, the risk, the adrenaline. Pure adrenaline…

But unfortunately there was always something waiting to bring her down. And that something usually came in the form of one person and one person only.

"I was wondering when you'd be joining me, Ritchie-chan."

Ritchie stopped dead in her tracks. No way. There was no way… But sure enough, Izaya had stepped out from behind the door to the stairwell that led into the building – his usual smirk plastered over his face. She hadn't seen him coming at all… So _how_ had he managed to beat her here?

"How the hell did you get here first?!" Ritchie exclaimed disbelievingly. Her annoyance was certainly enough to bring her breath back. It was game over now.

"Because you followed the most _obvious_ route," said Izaya, shaking his head. "You over planned things, didn't you Ritchie-chan?"

Ritchie scowled. She guessed she _had_ planned too much. She'd decided on what she thought was the least obvious direction to take. But since Izaya knew her so well it had clearly been all too obvious to him. Damn… And she thought she'd been so clever about it.

"You really suck sometimes," she grumbled.

Izaya just laughed. "This was your game, Ritchie-chan, and I won. It seems that I _can_ catch you, but the real question is… can you catch _me_?"

He turned on his heels and leapt the next gap between the buildings without even a running start. He then easily vaulted the railing on the other side. Ritchie gritted her teeth – how dare he try and make her game into his own – and then jumped after him, not taking into account the fact that her legs were a lot shorter than his.

She just about landed with her toes on the opposite ledge, but it wasn't enough. Everything seemed to slow down as she fell backwards into the air with a gasp – all she could see was the sky above her…

Then she suddenly slammed into the side of the building as her upper body was jerked forward. Ritchie stared up wildly. Izaya had managed to grab her hand over the railing at the very last second.

She braced her legs against the building, almost as if she was abseiling, trying to keep herself upright. It worked but it didn't make the situation any less frightening. It didn't change the fact that the only thing keeping her from falling was the strength and the choice of the city's notorious info broker.

"They say that pride always comes before a fall," Izaya informed her calmly. He then chuckled. "It looks like that really is the case."

He was too calm. Way too calm… Right now Ritchie couldn't imagine a more frightening scenario than this. She was pretty certain that Izaya was just playing mind games with her like he always did, but she couldn't discount the possibility of him just letting go…

And if he did then there wasn't anything she could do about it. The thought made her breathing speed up and her whole body tense. For the first time in years she was genuinely scared.

Izaya had clearly noticed and it seemed to just make him all the more amused. "Are you afraid of death, Ritchie-chan?"

"Of course I am!" Ritchie couldn't help but snap. "Who wouldn't be!"

"You'd be surprised," Izaya said lightly. "Some people flirt with death every day. Others embrace the idea… And some even actively seek it out."

"If you're trying to make me feel worse then it's working," Ritchie protested. There was no purchase on the wall of the building and her shoes kept slipping, reminding her further that there was nothing below her besides a very long fall…

Izaya laughed. "Aren't you just a little bit interested to see what's waiting for you in the afterlife?"

His fingers relaxed ever so slightly, teasingly… Ritchie's heart rate increased even more. "Don't be stupid; there is no afterlife!" she blurted out.

"Oh really?" Izaya raised an eyebrow, his expression still amused. "And what makes you say that?"

"Because when people die they cease to exist," replied Ritchie, trying to talk rationally in order to keep herself calm. It wasn't exactly working. "Their body still remains but their mind and soul just disappear. What possible life after death could there be for an empty shell besides rotting underground?"

She practically screamed the last part at him. It was a very long time before Izaya answered… He was still holding onto Ritchie with one hand like it was effortless and, despite the situation, she couldn't help but wonder how strong he really was. Maybe that was one of the reasons that he could always go head on against Shizuo.

But eventually he gave her a scarily sweet smile. "So you don't want me to let go?"

"If you do I'll find a way to come back and haunt you," Ritchie swore.

Izaya just laughed. It was clearly the answer he'd wanted because he replied with a cheery, "Alright then."

With both hands he managed to pull her back up onto the ledge and help her over the railing. Once Ritchie was on the other side she practically collapsed against him. She mentally scolded herself for showing such weakness, but her legs were shaking so much that she could barely stand.

When she was certain she'd be able to speak normally she commented as casually as she could, "It looks like you caught me again instead."

Izaya smirked. "It looks that way."

Ritchie knew that she should have been annoyed at him. Nobody else would have played such mind games with her at a time of peril like that… But then nobody else would have been so happy to chase her across the rooftops for fun.

And he'd still saved her life. She couldn't really ignore that, as much as she wanted to.

"Thank you," Ritchie mumbled grudgingly against his chest.

Izaya pulled back slightly and cupped a hand to his ear. "Sorry, I don't think I quite heard you," he said loudly.

Ritchie scowled. "Make me say it again and I'll push _you_ off the roof."

XXX

They both went back to Izaya's place after that. Ritchie was feeling distinctly bad-tempered about the whole event – especially the fact that her little game was over. But she _had_ enjoyed it whilst it had lasted. It was the most fun she'd had in a long time.

Thankfully her plan seemed to have worked though. Izaya wasn't completely disinterested in her anymore. In face, he was thoroughly amused by everything that had happened. But of course Ritchie always hated when that amusement was aimed at her, so she couldn't even be pleased that she'd achieved what she'd wanted in the first place. Not yet anyway.

"I may have to make sure you grow bored more often if you always resort to such interesting measures," Izaya teased.

"Shut up," Ritchie grumbled testily.

In an attempt to keep her mind occupied so that it would be easier to ignore Izaya's taunts, she'd sat at his desk and was trying to figure out the board game that he always had set up behind his computer. After realising what she was doing, Izaya had sat down opposite and had been watching her in amusement.

It wasn't working anyway. The game was just trying Ritchie's patience even more. It made absolutely no sense! The board was a regular Chinese Go board but sitting on top of it were a mix of chess, Othello and Shogi pieces… Just what kind of game was this supposed to be?

"This doesn't make any sense!" Ritchie complained, swiping several of the pieces off the board and onto the floor in frustration.

"Ritchie-chan, just because you don't understand it doesn't mean that you can destroy everything," said Izaya reproachfully.

He was practically pouting over it. It was so absurd that Ritchie couldn't help but burst out laughing. "What's up with that face?! Does this stupid little game really mean that much to you?"

Izaya seemed mollified and quite amused by her reaction. Ritchie didn't often strike him as the laugh-out-loud type. He was clearly pulling her in ever closer…

He reached down to collect the pieces that Ritchie had abused and placed them back on the Chinese Go board. "Not exactly. But I guess you could say that to an extent this could be classed as a representation of Ikebukuro."

"How do you mean?" asked Ritchie, confused.

"Well let's see…" Izaya picked up one of the black pieces and set it down centrally on one side of the board. "I'm the king, of course. And I suppose that you would be the queen…" He picked up another black piece and placed it beside the first one.

"Lucky me," said Ritchie sarcastically. She didn't even bother pointing out how cliché it was that they were in black.

Izaya ignored her and picked up some of the white pieces instead. "Celty would be the other queen, Shizu-chan a knight and Simon a bishop." He placed each one back on the board as he spoke.

Ritchie tried not to seem interested, but she couldn't help it. She was getting just a little bit of insight into the info broker's mind here… "What about Shinra?" Surely he wasn't going to be the other king. He didn't seem to fit that role somehow.

Izaya took one of the black knights and changed its position on the board. "Shinra's not quite so black and white. Right now he's working under my hand… But he could quite easily go either way."

He tipped the piece over, where it rolled partway across the board and came to a stop nearer to the white queen. How ironic.

"And then we have these three…" Izaya continued, collecting three other white pieces into his hand. "Three high school students. Three friends. Three very central characters to our story." He placed the king and a bishop down in turn. "Two gang leaders… And then a girl who'd not quite like the rest of us." The other knight followed its fellow pieces onto the board.

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. "So you're telling me that high school students are in charge of gangs now?" she asked sceptically. "Are you talking about the Dollars?"

"Maybe," said Izaya simply, not giving anything away.

"Is this what you've been so interested in lately?" Ritchie asked instead.

The corners of Izaya's mouth turned up into a smirk. "Maybe," he repeated.

Ritchie scowled. "New choice."

Izaya just laughed. "That's all I'm going to tell you, Ritchie-chan."

Ritchie folded her arms in a huff and stared down at the board. She still didn't understand the point of the Othello and Shogi pieces. "You only explained the chess pieces," she pointed out, reluctantly continuing the conversation as her curiosity got the better of her.

"Yes, I did," said Izaya. He didn't elaborate but he was watching her expectantly, waiting for her to ask more questions.

Ritchie had a feeling that the more questions she asked, the less he'd give away. She chose her next words more carefully. "So just what exactly are the rules of this game?"

"Isn't it obvious, Ritchie-chan?" said Izaya. "They're _my_ rules." He got to his feet. "We always play by my rules."

His rules… His way. It was always his way. Izaya worked everything to suit him. He really _did_ control Ikebukuro, even if nobody else was aware of it. But then maybe one day that would be subject to change…

Once Izaya had turned away, Ritchie reached for the black king and childishly knocked it over.


	18. There's Always Something

Ritchie had never been as grateful in her life as she was when the month was finally up. She honestly didn't know if the deprival of alcohol had been so hard because she really _was_ that addicted to it or if it was more just wanting something she'd been told she couldn't have.

Either way she didn't really care. She was just glad it was over. Izaya could damn well suck it, thinking she wouldn't be able to do it. She'd certainly proved him wrong!

But for once, exceeding Izaya's expectations wasn't the first thing on her mind. Right now she was a lot more interested in going out, getting extremely wasted and having a damn good time. There was a foil in her plans however – she'd proposed the idea to Sei, but her best friend had had to decline as it was her and Reita's anniversary.

Of all the rotten luck… What were the chances of it falling on the same day that Ritchie had finished this stupid little challenge? Trying hard not to think about the possibility that it could have been planned that way – anniversary dates would hardly be a difficult thing for a notorious information broker to find out after all – she instead concentrated on finding a suitable drinking partner substitute.

Her next immediate thought was Lexi. They'd had fun the last few times they'd hung out. They could even make it another girls' night out if she wanted to, providing that her friends didn't bring that weird Naomi girl again… It wasn't all that uncommon for Ritchie to be disliked by other girls, but she didn't see why she should have to spend time around someone she clearly wasn't going to get on with. Especially when this was her idea.

She gave Lexi a call and her new friend was definitely up for the idea. She said she'd get in touch with Shiori and Ellie as well. Lexi hadn't been overly fond of Naomi either, so she agreed not to extend the invites any further. Ritchie then managed to get hold of a couple of the girls from Sei's university – whom she'd met on previous nights out – and they both said they'd come too. It looked like things were going to plan already.

Well… Almost to plan.

"Only a month without alcohol and you already can't wait to start drinking again," Izaya tutted, shaking his head theatrically as he watched Ritchie gathering her things and getting ready to leave.

Ritchie had learnt a long time ago not to take Izaya's taunts too seriously, but the prideful part of her could never seem to keep from responding. "Quit trying to guilt me. You already said that this wasn't about my health or to try and keep me off alcohol forever. It was a simple challenge to see if I could do it… And I did. It's over now. So you can damn well stay out of it."

Izaya smirked. "Well I suppose there's always next time."

"There most definitely isn't going to be a next time," Ritchie insisted. She didn't care what measures he resorted to. The 'challenge' was done – game over.

"That's what you think," said Izaya teasingly, catching her around the waist as she walked past and attempting to pull her down onto the couch with him where he was currently lounging.

"Quit it, I'm trying to get ready," Ritchie protested, trying to unwind his arms from around her.

"You won't even allow me five minutes with you?" asked Izaya innocently.

Ritchie rolled her eyes. Why didn't he ever instigate things like this normally? It was usually her who pounced on him first. She knew exactly why he was doing it now though – he was trying to get his way yet again and get her to stay with him. Then he'd win yet another round of control between them… Well that totally wasn't happening this time.

But then… She supposed that five minutes couldn't hurt.

Sighing, Ritchie allowed Izaya to pull her down on top of him. She repositioned herself with a leg on either side of him, in her favourite position of straddling his waist. "If you insist."

Izaya's smirk widened. "You didn't take much convincing, did you Ritchie-chan?"

"If you want five minutes then you're gonna have to stop talking," ordered Ritchie, pressing her lips over his.

As usual, her preferred method of shutting him up succeeded. She tangled her fingers into his hair as she explored the inside of his mouth with her tongue. Izaya's lips moved with hers as he kissed her back roughly, hard enough to hurt but not enough to make her want to stop.

Ritchie responded by catching his bottom lip between her teeth and biting down hard enough to draw blood. Izaya groaned with pleasure, his hands sliding down her skin, his grip bruising against her hips. Ritchie's own hands were moving too, trailing past his neck, her nails raking fine lines into his shoulders…

She broke away from his mouth, her lips still moving across his jaw line and down to his neck. She nipped at him and worked her mouth against his skin, luring the blood up to the surface. She loved trying to leave marks on him where people would see them.

Izaya's fingers dug into her hips as he sighed with pleasure from the sensitive points on his neck. Ritchie then moved back to his mouth, pushing her tongue against his lips and forcing them apart again. Her hands crept back up his neck to pull at his hair.

Izaya's hands slid up her back, inside her top, toying with the clasp on her bra. Ritchie knew instantly where this was going. If it carried on then she was going to end up having to shower and get ready all over again. Then she'd be late to meet Lexi and the other girls… Izaya was _not_ going to ruin her first night out in a month.

Ritchie suddenly sat up and broke contact with Izaya's mouth so abruptly in the middle of their kissing that it left a thin string of saliva stretching out across the gap between their lips before it then broke away. Izaya looked surprised by the sudden halt, which made Ritchie feel smug. He was still so difficult to surprise – she never got tired of seeing that look on his face.

"What is it?" he asked.

Ritchie grinned and planted one last, quick kiss on his mouth. "I believe that was five minutes," she said, climbing off him and readjusting her skirt.

"You're still going?" Izaya still couldn't quite keep the surprise from his expression.

It was Ritchie's turn to look innocent, as she grabbed her phone from the coffee table and slipped it into her bra. "Why wouldn't I be? I never said that I was staying."

She _loved_ that Izaya actually looked a little put out. He really thought that he still had complete control over her… But on this occasion he was wrong. She'd engaged in enough sexual activities over the last month to keep her satisfied for now at least. Right now, alcohol held the much greater appeal. And the idea that _she_ had control for once was possibly even greater still.

After a few moments, Izaya's face returned to its usual half smirk. He sighed theatrically. "You're so cruel, Ritchie-chan."

"And proud. Try not to miss me too much," Ritchie taunted as she left, feeling extremely pleased that, for once, _she'd_ gotten one over on him.

XXX

The night started out quite well. They went to the Ouhei club first so that Ritchie could indulge in the perks of free drinks, which she happily did in excess. God, she'd missed alcohol… Kosuke was tending the bar that night so she was even able to score a few free rounds for the other girls as well.

Afterwards they moved on to a smaller, newer club called Iroppoi. The dance floor was quite cramped, so after being forced to dance alongside strange men for a while Ritchie and Lexi were happy to go and sit at the bar. Lexi was still adamant that none of the guys found in places like this were anywhere close to her type, and Ritchie felt that since her no cheating policy was one of the few morals she had she should stick to it. And pressing up against random, intoxicated strangers was only going to lead in one direction.

Arisa and Mena – Sei's friends from university – were more than happy with this aspect of the scenery change and roped Ellie into their little group as they headed off across the dance floor, intending to find some hotties to pull. Shiori clearly didn't want to play that game because she came to join Ritchie and Lexi at the bar soon after.

"Does everyone in clubs _have_ to try and pull?" Shiori asked loudly over the music as she pulled up a stool.

"We don't," Ritchie replied, indicating Lexi and herself. Well… At least I don't do it _now_, she thought to herself.

"You have a boyfriend though, don't you?" Shiori pointed out.

"Unfortunately," said Ritchie dryly.

"What about you?" Shiori asked Lexi. "You said before that you didn't have a boyfriend, didn't you?"

Lexi nodded. "Yeah, but none of the guys here really do it for me. I guess you could say I'm quite picky."

"Oh. I get you." Shiori seemed happier that at least one other person wasn't interested in anybody here.

The three of them carried on chatting for a while longer and continued to drink as well. Ritchie was starting to feel more than a little buzzed. Now this was more like it – this was exactly what she'd been missing. She was never taking another no-drinking challenge again, she thought adamantly as she nursed her next drink.

"I think I may have to split soon," Lexi announced after a while. "Or I'm gonna run out of cash. I can't really condone withdrawing anymore until after my next payday."

"Yeah, me too," Shiori agreed grudgingly after checking her wallet.

"Oh… Okay," said Ritchie, disappointed. The other girls still hadn't come back yet. It wasn't like she wasn't used to drinking at bars on her own, but having company deterred at least _some_ of the lecherous creeps.

Shiori seemed to sense her disappointment. "Well if you guys want you can come and crash at my place? I still have some vodka and some bubbly leftover from Christmas."

"I'm in," said Ritchie automatically, a lot happier with this idea.

"Yeah, okay," agreed Lexi. "Sounds fun!"

"Great!"

Shiori extended the invitation out to the other girls on the dance floor but they were still happy guy catching, so they left them to it and only the three of them headed back to Shiori's place. Shiori cracked open the champagne first and they started playing drinking games.

It didn't take long, especially with the champagne, until they were all well and truly wasted.

"I have never…" Shiori started, swaying on her seat, her drink rocking vicariously in her hand. "Had rough sex." Ritchie and Lexi both took a drink from their glasses in response.

"Okay, I have never… made out with a girl," Lexi declared. This time it was Ritchie and Shiori who drank. "Wow, both of you? Really?"

Shiori shrugged. "I actually prefer girls." She didn't really go around bragging that she was bisexual, but it was no secret either.

Ritchie shrugged too. "I was drunk," was her explanation.

Lexi just laughed, not bothered by either confession. "Fair enough."

"I have never…" Ritchie had to stop and think of something. "Had a golden shower."

"Ew! Ritch!" the other girls protested. It was safe to say that nobody drank for that one.

"What? It's hard to think of things I haven't done!"

As the game progressed it became even harder to think of confessions and the girls also started to lose track of whose turn it was. "I have never… been to Disneyland!" Lexi announced randomly.

Shiori took a drink, causing Ritchie to pout at her. "No fair! You've been to Disneyland?! What's it like? Is it really amazing?"

Lexi giggled at her reaction. "Of all the things you could possibly like I'd have never expected Disney to be one of them."

"Hey, Disney's awesome!" Ritchie objected.

"I don't really like Disney. I got dragged there by my family," said Shiori. "You'd probably enjoy it there though if you're into that stuff."

"No fair…" Ritchie pouted again.

"I have never…" started Lexi, forgetting that she'd just had her turn. "Drank this much… ever."

Ritchie had another swig from her drink, but Shiori was on Lexi's side. "Agreed!"

"You don't seem anywhere near as wrecked as I feel," Lexi accused Ritchie, nearly throwing her drink everywhere as she crossed her legs to try and make herself comfier.

"I'm probably not," Ritchie admitted, grinning. A month of alcohol's absence wasn't enough to affect years of practice.

"What's the most drunk you've ever been?" asked Shiori.

"Err…" Ritchie racked her brains. "I passed out in a park once." As far as she could think, that was the worst state she'd ever gotten into. When she'd had her drink spiked didn't really count – that hadn't been _entirely_ self-inflicted.

"Ouch…"

"How did that work out?"

"Very embarrassingly."

After a while longer, Shiori clearly couldn't handle anymore. She got to her feet unsteadily, swaying and rubbing her temples. "I think I need to go lie down… You guys carry on. The rest of the vodka's in the kitchen."

"Are you sure?" asked Ritchie. She knew that she personally wouldn't give away _her_ vodka so generously.

"Trust me; after tonight I don't think I'll ever wanna touch that stuff again…"

After Shiori had disappeared into the other room, Ritchie turned to Lexi. "Do you wanna play Roxanne?" She kept the song on her phone for occasions such as this.

Lexi groaned. "God, you're gonna kill me…"

XXX

Ritchie woke up the next morning to the sound of her cell phone. It was not a welcome sound. To make Lexi feel better about her level of drunkenness she'd played the game of Roxanne with straight vodka, rather than adding a considerable amount of mixer like Lexi had. It had certainly done the trick. Within the first two seconds of waking up, Ritchie was already regretting it.

She groaned and felt around for her phone. Where the hell was it? And where the hell was _she_? Whatever she was lying on wasn't exactly comfortable. And there seemed to be a few too many limbs for her to comprehend…

"Nngghhh… What are you doing?"

Ritchie opened her eyes and realised that what she'd been prodding was actually Lexi's leg. That was right – they'd crashed out on Shiori's couch together after playing Roxanne. "Sorry. I'm looking for my phone."

"Is that what that is?" Lexi groaned. Well at least someone seemed to be in a worse state that Ritchie was. "Hang on, I think I might be sitting on it…"

She managed to retrieve Ritchie's phone from under her other leg and passed it over. Ritchie barely needed to glance at the caller ID to know who it was. "What do you want now?"

"That's not very nice, Ritchie-chan."

"Well it's not very nice to call me and wake me up at such an ungodly hour," Ritchie replied testily.

Izaya chuckled. "Ungodly hour? It's almost midday."

"Huh?" Ritchie moved the phone away from her ear long enough to check the time on the display. Goddamn, he was right… What time had she even passed out last night? Or this morning even? "Oh…"

Izaya laughed even louder. "Something you want to say to me, Ritchie-chan?"

"Sorry, I guess," Ritchie grumbled. "But I hope you still have a reason for waking me up."

She could just imagine the grin on Izaya's face right now. "Of course! I felt like doing some exploring today and figured I'd get you to come with me."

No 'would you like to' or any other opening phrase that suggested she had a choice. And why did he always seem to want to go 'exploring' when she was hungover? Sometimes – like with many other things – she had a feeling that it was intentional.

But maybe a little fun out and about with Izaya would help her to at least ignore her currently pounding head. "Fine," she conceded. "But only if we can meet at that fast food place by yours and you have a big fat cheeseburger waiting for me." He may not have given her the choice but that didn't mean she couldn't _try_ and set her own conditions.

Fortunately for her, Izaya found her attempt at bargaining to be amusing. "Alright then, if it'll keep you from complaining about how ill you feel."

"You know me too well." Ritchie hung up and looked at Lexi. "If you never hear from me again then I've died from being too hungover to cope with my life."

"Okay," Lexi laughed. "So where are you going?"

"To 'explore' apparently." Ritchie gestured quotation marks with her fingers and rolled her eyes.

Despite not knowing Izaya besides his reputation, Lexi didn't have to ask who had just called. "God, I'm so glad I'm single…"

"You have no idea."

Ritchie reluctantly disentangled herself from Lexi, tracked down her purse and keys and made sure she looked at least semi-presentable enough to go out in public. She checked on Shiori in the other room, but she was still asleep. Lexi promised to pass on Shiori's phone number to her as soon as she could locate her own cell phone.

For once in his life, Izaya was true to his promise and was waiting for Ritchie with a takeout package in his hand. Ritchie made an immediate beeline for the bag and ripped it open as soon as he handed it over, inhaling the rather glorious smell of meat, cheese and grease.

"Sometimes I think I may _actually_ like you," said Ritchie. She ignored the still queasy feeling in her stomach and dug into the burger anyway. She'd learnt from many experiences that it was much better to force feed her stomach, rather than letting it get its own way. Food soaked up the excess alcohol quite nicely.

Izaya grinned at that. "I think you mean all the time, Ritchie-chan."

"Yeah, right. Don't push it."

Ritchie already felt a lot better after eating and was able to feel a little more enthusiastic about wandering around with Izaya in an attempt to sniff out something exciting. With him, she was sure it wouldn't take very long to find something along those lines.

They passed by the Iroppoi club and Ritchie wondered if Arisa, Mena or Ellie had managed to successfully pull in the end. She hoped they'd at least had a good time either way, seeing as she was the one who'd organised the night out. Maybe she was better off leaving that part up to Sei in the future…

She was distracted from her thoughts as Izaya suddenly grabbed her hand and yanked her roughly to one side. "Hey, what the hell are you…" Ritchie's question trailed off as she watched a trashcan sail past them. "Fine, I'll give you that one…"

But Izaya's attention wasn't on her anymore. He was looking straight ahead, his mouth curving up into his trademark smirk. "Too slow, Shizu-chan. You'll have to do better than that."

"How many times have I told you to stay away from Ikebukuro?" Shizuo growled. "I already chased you away from here last night."

"Wait… Here as in Ikebukuro or here as in _here_, here?" Ritchie interrupted.

She didn't need to wait for an answer though – she knew what Shizuo had meant. And she was certain that it wasn't a coincidence. Why else would Izaya be hanging around outside a nightclub on his own?

Last night she and the other girls hadn't even known themselves that they were going to the Iroppoi club until they'd actually decided to move on from Ouhei. So there was only one way that Izaya would have known where she'd ended up…

"Are you kidding me? Did you follow me _again_?!"

"Aww look, Shizu-chan. You let the cat out of the bag," Izaya chastised the bartender, looking amused.

Shizuo raised his eyebrows. "What, so you just follow her around like some kind of stalker; is that it?"

"That's exactly it," Ritchie said angrily before Izaya could answer. She then turned towards said infuriating boyfriend. "What the fuck are you trying to do?! What makes you think you can follow me everywhere I go?"

"I don't follow you _everywhere_, Ritchie-chan…" said Izaya condescendingly.

"_No_. Don't start this," Ritchie warned him. "I'm done with your crappy half answers. I swear, if you don't give me a real explanation…"

There was suddenly a loud crunching, wrenching sound and Ritchie turned to see Shizuo rip a stop sign up out of the ground. He held it up menacingly. "Want me to kill him for you?"

Ritchie was so angry right now that she didn't even stop to think about it. "Yes. Please."

"Awesome."

"Now Ritchie-chan, don't you think that's a _bit_ harsh?" Izaya put on his best hurt voice, but he still backed away as Shizuo started towards him with the stop sign.

Ritchie didn't know whether to follow or to stand and watch, but her feet seemed to make the decision for her. Maybe she could get a punch in before Shizuo got to him. "Don't _you_ think it's a bit harsh that I can't have one night to enjoy myself without you butting in? Even after that ridiculous challenge you made me do?"

Shizuo clearly had no sympathy for their argument. "Hey, you may wanna step back," he advised Ritchie gruffly as he took a swing with the stop sign.

Izaya ducked out of the way and retreated further. "Shizu-chan's right for once. You see, he's all brawn and no brains. He doesn't really know what he's doing with that thing…"

"Arghhh!" Shizuo roared and charged at him with the stop sign.

Izaya skipped aside at the last moment, making the movement look effortless, as Shizuo ploughed straight past into the wall ahead. Laughing in delight, Izaya skipped back towards the road. He'd forgotten about Ritchie though, whose anger hadn't subsided yet. Now that Shizuo was temporarily out of the way she had her chance.

She rushed after Izaya and shoved him in the chest as hard as she could. "Hey! We're not done here!"

For once Izaya hadn't seen it coming and staggered back a few steps, looking mildly surprised. He regained his composure just as quickly though and sighed theatrically, "Don't you think you're taking this a little too personally?"

"How else am I supposed to take it?! I did your stupid little challenge, so I had every right to go out and drink as much as I liked! Were you gonna try and stop me or something? Is that why you were following me?"

Izaya retreated backwards again, though his expression was still composed. "Now you're just making things up, Ritchie-chan. Did I say anything like that?"

"You don't _have_ to say it! I know what you're like and I know you'd find it fucking amusing to keep me off alcohol just that little bit longer!" As Izaya kept backing up, Ritchie still followed. He was _not_ going anywhere until he admitted why he'd followed her last night.

"It always comes down to alcohol with you, doesn't it?"

"So what? That's not the point!" Ritchie objected.

"Ritchie-chan…"

"I'm oh so very sorry if you can't handle me wanting to hang out with someone else for a change..."

"Ritchie-chan…"

"But do you know what? My life doesn't just revolve around you!

"Ritchie-chan…"

"Don't 'Ritchie-chan' me!"

"For god's sake Ritchie, will you just _listen_ to…"

_Wham._ Whatever Izaya had wanted her to listen to, Ritchie didn't find out. She was aware of a brief surge of pain before everything went black…

XXX

When Ritchie woke up again the first thing she was aware of was the agony inside her head. She felt like she'd been hit by a train. Where the hell was she? She opened her eyes warily, wincing at the light, to find both Izaya and Shizuo standing over her. What the… In what world would they be caught dead in the same room together?

She groaned. "Did I die and go to hell?"

Izaya chuckled. "See? I told you she'd be fine."

"I don't _feel_ fine, asshole." Ritchie started to sit up but her head span sickeningly.

"No, no, don't sit up so fast! You may have a concussion!"

"Huh?" Ritchie ignored the advice and craned her head, trying to see who else had joined the party.

Izaya put both hands on her shoulders and pushed her back down onto the couch. "Listen to the good doctor, Ritchie-chan."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Ritchie tried to slap his hands away but her movements felt sluggish. "Wait, did you say doctor?"

Sure enough, Shinra appeared in her eye line as well. At least he looked concerned, unlike the others. "How are you feeling?"

"Like somebody's smashed my skull in," Ritchie grumbled. "What the hell happened to me?"

"Well _somebody_ didn't listen to me and got in the way of a rogue vending machine," said Izaya, his voice full of amusement.

"Wait, you hit me with a _vending machine_?!" This time Ritchie directed her anger at Shizuo.

"It's not like I _meant_ to hit you," Shizuo bristled. "I was aiming for _him_."

"Your aim needs some work, Shizu-chan." Izaya shook his head. "Then maybe you won't go round clobbering poor, defenceless girls."

Ritchie glared at him. "Who are you calling…"

Before she could finish Shizuo had grabbed Izaya by the collar and jerked him closer. "What was that?" he snarled dangerously.

"Hey! Quit it, you two!" Shinra protested worriedly.

Izaya didn't seem at all worried though. In fact, he looked positively entertained by the situation. "Now, now, Shizu-chan… Surely you know it's rude to pick a fight in somebody else's home."

"Then stop giving me a reason to," Shizuo growled between his teeth, tightening his grip on Izaya's collar. "Heads up – you breathing is a reason in itself!"

The next moment, Izaya and Shizuo had been pushed apart by something powerful and were suddenly standing on opposite sides of the room. Both of them looked a little taken aback. Celty appeared between them, shadows still stretching from her fingers. They then disappeared just as quickly as they'd appeared.

"Thanks Celty," said Shinra gratefully. He was the only one who didn't seem surprised by what had just happened.

Celty pulled her communications device out of her body suit. She keyed in a quick message and showed it to Izaya. '_No fighting in the apartment._'

He raised his hands. "Hey, I wasn't the one who started that," he said innocently.

Celty irritably typed another response. '_I don't care who started it – I'll finish it!_'

Izaya simply shrugged. "Alright."

Celty went back to the first message and showed it to Shizuo as well. "Fine," he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

Celty then came over to Ritchie and typed out a different message for her. '_Are you alright?_'

"I will be once I rethink the company I keep," replied Ritchie, shooting Izaya another annoyed look.

"I did try to warn you, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya, shaking his head again. "But you just wouldn't listen to me."

"Come over here and my fist will listen to your face."

"Now, now…" Shinra interrupted, albeit a little nervously. "You took quite a nasty bump to the head. You shouldn't over-exert yourself."

"Not even a little bit?" Ritchie asked innocently.

Even Shinra couldn't help but smile at that. "Maybe after you feel better."

"And I can always do the over-exerting for you until then," Shizuo cut in, cracking his knuckles menacingly. Celty hit his arm as a warning. "Okay, okay. Don't worry, I won't do anything in here."

"Anyway," said Shinra hastily, trying to change the subject. "You're going to need to take it easy for a little while – at least for the rest of the day. Keep an eye out for any key symptoms… Vomiting, slurring of speech, double vision, any worsening of your headache, excessive drowsiness, numbness of limbs… If you _do_ experience any of these then call me straightaway."

"Alright," Ritchie agreed without argument, thankful that she wasn't on shift for a few nights now. She'd never been a huge fan of doctors, but she had to admit that being treated by Shinra was definitely preferable to going to a hospital.

"And Izaya, you're going to have to keep an eye on her," Shinra added.

"Why me?" asked Izaya, not entirely thrilled by the idea.

"Because I'll come and break your neck if you don't," said Shizuo.

"Shizuo!" Shinra chastised him.

The bartender shrugged. "Just a little incentive."

"Violence isn't the answer, Shizu-chan," Izaya tutted. "Besides, you were the one who knocked her out in the first place."

"I swear, I'm going to wring your goddamn neck…"

Ritchie put her hands over her ears. "Just shut up, all of you! You're making my head hurt even more!"

That was enough to make them all be quiet. "Right. Let's clear the room," Shinra announced professionally. The others complied and started to file out, but Shinra stopped Izaya as he went to walk past too. "Hang on Izaya, you wait here…"

"So you're saying you want me to play babysitter again?" asked Izaya, unimpressed.

"She _is_ supposed to be your girlfriend," Shinra pointed out. "It's your duty – don't be so heartless, Izaya. Plus it's only until tomorrow. If she's okay by then, then there shouldn't be any lasting effects."

"And trust me, you're not the only one unhappy about this," Ritchie grumbled, as she stared up at the ceiling. Having to be looked after was not a welcome idea. Having to be looked after by _Izaya_ was even worse.

The fact that Ritchie didn't like the idea either made Izaya suddenly feel a lot happier about the situation. He grinned. "Then again, I'm sure I can think of some way to make it more interesting…" Ritchie did _not_ like the sound of that.

Shinra either didn't notice the ominous promise behind Izaya's words or he was choosing to ignore it. "Glad to hear you're on board. She needs rest, so she'll still be allowed to sleep… But you should wake her up every four hours just to check on her."

"Every four hours," Izaya repeated, amusement still lacing his tone. "Got it. Sound good to you… Ritchie-chan?"

Right now Ritchie couldn't think of anything worse. She had a banging headache that apparently she wasn't even allowed to sleep off properly, she was probably likely to puke at some point in the night and her reluctant so-called 'nurse' was better known as being a sadistic information broker…

She sighed. "I miss just being hungover."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Hey guys! Last you heard from me was when I had a bit of an issue with a copycat regarding this story. Just to let you all know that the problem was solved almost immediately. I don't know whether it was flagged up to the site itself and the admin had it removed or if the girl just freaked out and took it down herself xD

But before it disappeared I was genuinely honoured to see how many people were messaging her and sticking up for me! You have no idea how touched I was by all of your support. I genuinely felt like Mikado with all of the Dollars coming to my aid ;D So thanks again for all of your continued support – you all really came through for me 3

And on a better note I've started experimenting with one-shots a bit more (since we know how terrible I am at writing things that AREN'T long as feck!) I did a little festive themed one about Izaya and Ritchie over Christmas in case you didn't know. It's called "Santa's Little Helper" if anyone fancies reading it – you can find it on my profile :3

Oh and just a heads up that if you reviewed when I put up the copycat notice then the site probably won't let you review this chapter (just in case you get confused!) So feel free to leave the review on another chapter if you so wish ;D

Also sorry for the repost on this one! I went and uploaded the wrong file like an absolute asshat -_- Hopefully I've got it right this time! Sorry for any confusion.


	19. Now Dance, Sucker, Dance

Ritchie didn't have much ambition in life. She didn't like to plan ahead. There was no excitement in it - she much preferred to take life as it came. The most she ever planned in advance was who to invite on her next night out and what clubs that may hit... She didn't really dream about things. If she decided she wanted something then she'd go straight out and do her damnedest to get it.

Right now, the thing she'd decided she wanted to try was dance lessons.

Ritchie was obviously familiar with the modern generation of dance. She knew how to swing, sashay and grind her hips. She knew how to slut drop. She knew how to work her magic on a pole. But what she didn't know were _real_ dances. Dances with real choreography, real sequences, real cultures behind them. And keeping in with her favourite idol, of course, she had a particular genre of dance in mind.

Unfortunately there were a few kinks with this particular plan, meaning it couldn't be as spontaneous a decision as Ritchie would usually have preferred. The first one that sprang to mind was work. The classes she was looking at occurred on set evenings every week. Her shifts did not. They changed weekly, meaning she never knew in advance what evenings she'd have free. She decided she'd have to try sweet talking Kosuke into giving her the same evening off every week on a more long-term basis.

But of course there was another complication, in the form of a certain someone who enjoyed playing with humans on a number of levels - hopes and dreams most definitely included.

"Why would you want to take dance lessons? You already know how to dance."

"Huh?" Ritchie looked round from where she was sat. Izaya simply tapped his computer screen in a pointed fashion. She knew she'd used his computer to research the classes, but she'd made sure to clean up after herself. "How did you know that? I cleared the search history and cookies and everything."

"Please. That's child's play, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya scornfully.

Ritchie's frown deepened. "Seriously?" She got up and strode across to look over Izaya's shoulder. Sure enough, the exact website she'd been looking at was emblazoned across the screen. She knew Izaya was intelligent, but she hadn't expected him to be _quite_ so tech savvy. "How did you do that?"

Izaya leant back in his chair and interlaced his fingers, stretching them out in front of him. "Haven't you ever heard a magician never reveals his secrets?"

Ritchie rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever." She didn't know why, after all this time, she still asked questions half expecting a straight answer. It was really quite stupid.

"So why exactly do you want to take dance lessons?" Izaya prompted, not finished with the subject. "I thought dancing was already your job."

"That's different," Ritchie dismissed, pointedly indicating the screen again. "In case you haven't noticed I don't exactly start rocking and rolling round the pole when I'm on stage."

Izaya grinned. "Is this more of your sad 50s obsession coming into play?"

"It is _not_ sad! It's a well-renowned era," Ritchie retorted hotly. She knew he was purposely trying to goad her, but she still couldn't ever keep herself from biting back.

Still smirking over how easy Ritchie always was to annoy, Izaya turned his gaze back to the computer screen. "You have to have a partner for rock 'n' roll dancing."

"Well done, you know how to read," said Ritchie sarcastically, wondering what he was trying to get at _now_.

"But I might get jealous if I know you're off dancing with other guys," said Izaya theatrically, all innocent pretence.

"Don't be ridiculous," was Ritchie's response. "You wouldn't know jealousy if it bit you in the ass."

"You always act like I have no heart, Ritchie-chan," Izaya pouted.

"Hmm. Wonder where I get that idea from," said Ritchie dryly, turning away.

As she did Izaya jumped up out of his chair and cut in front of her, grabbing her hand and twirling her round in a very poor attempt at a dance move. "This is really all you want to learn to do?" he asked, looking amused.

"Um, no... I want to learn _real_ rock 'n' roll dancing for a start - not whatever the hell you're trying to do," Ritchie pointed out, eyebrows raised. "And what are you even trying for anyway? I know _you_ wouldn't want to be my dance partner."

"You wouldn't be wrong there," Izaya agreed, still wearing that same half smirk.

"But you don't want any other guys to dance with me either."

"Right again."

Ritchie frowned again. "And it's not even because you're jealous, is it? You just like to act like I'm some plaything of yours and you always have to get your way about it."

Izaya bypassed her condescending tone, battling it with his own. "You're getting good at this, Ritchie-chan. If this were a class I'd have to give you a gold star."

Ritchie tore her hand away from his, feeling annoyed. She _knew_ it. "Keep your fucking gold star. If I want to take dance lessons then I'm gonna take dance lessons. You can't stop me."

"Oh, but I can and I will," said Izaya, falsely sweet, tucking two fingers under Ritchie's chin and tilting her face up towards his. "Don't forget that we _always_ play by my rules."

Ritchie met his gaze levelly, but angrily. "I lose interest in the game when you start playing dirty," she said coolly, mocking his choice of words.

It was probably just the light, but Ritchie could have sworn she'd seen Izaya's eyes grow darker. He slid his fingers and thumb higher around her face, grinding them against her jaw. "Well then you'd best make a better attempt to pay attention, hadn't you?"

He was digging his fingers in enough to hurt. Ritchie _hated_ when he did things like this. Sure, he was able to mess with her in more ways than she could count - she usually just gritted her teeth and bared it. Sometimes with a little protesting of course. But it was when he started getting physically rough that she drew the line.

She knew he was trying to show his dominance over her. It was what he usually resorted to if she threatened going against him in some way. And she was sure that he also did it to test her. She'd made it clear how she felt about abusive relationships, particularly from her spectator's view of Maddie's. She had a strong feeling that Izaya liked to see how far he could push her with that knowledge. It really was playing dirty.

"Let go of me," she said firmly, in her best attempt to sound calm. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that his grip hurt.

But Izaya rarely ever did as he was told. "I think you're forgetting who's in control here," he said, the light tone of voice not quite matching his eyes. His nails dug cruel welts into Ritchie's jaw line as he flexed his fingers even harder.

Ritchie didn't know if it was the added physical pressure or the blasé comment about the control that she felt they were constantly at war for, but something snapped inside her. She was not a toy and she was going to make damn sure that Izaya knew that. She curled her right hand into a fist and swung up at his face.

She didn't give any real warning for it, but Izaya had a nasty habit of predicting what she was going to do. He grabbed her fist with his free hand and stopped her easily, though he did have to relinquish his grip on her chin to do so. Ritchie took the chance to pull away from him as best as she could, even if he now had her by the wrist instead.

It seemed to do the trick somehow though. Izaya's eyes had bled back to their usual brown and now seemed to dance more with amusement, if anything. "Bad Ritchie-chan. Did you really think that was going to work?"

"It was worth a shot," said Ritchie lightly, testing his grip on her wrist. It wasn't as rough this time, but still too much to pull away from. It looked like his game wasn't over just yet.

Izaya shook his head theatrically. "You should give me more credit. There's a reason I can go up against Shizu-chan over and over."

In spite of herself, Ritchie felt her curiosity pique at Izaya's comment. She'd wondered about the info broker's strength before, but it was more than that that allowed him to hold his own against the city's strongest and angriest man. She knew Izaya was fast, but just _how_ good were his reflexes? Would she even stand a chance if their battle for control ever resorted to a literal fight?

Izaya seemed to notice that the cogs were turning in Ritchie's head, likely by the fact that she'd stopped trying to pull away. "Did I say something that interested you, Ritchie-chan?"

"Has Shizuo ever gotten one over on you before?" Ritchie asked curiously.

"You mean other than the time you so cruelly threw me to him and allowed him to strangle me almost to death?" said Izaya dramatically, his fingers tensing ever so slightly around Ritchie's wrist.

Ritchie rolled her eyes. "Hey, that was all you - you should have been paying attention. And in case you don't remember I was the one who told Shizuo _not_ to squeeze out that last breath of yours."

Izaya clearly didn't appreciate being indebted to someone, because he smoothly ignored Ritchie's last comment. "I've been grazed by the odd trashcan or street sign, but no, Shizu-chan's never come close to winning the war."

"Huh." Ritchie noticed his use of the word 'war'. It was exactly how she so often saw things between Izaya and herself.

Amusement flared in Izaya's eyes again. "So do you think you can do what he couldn't? Do you think you can do better than Shizu-chan?"

Ritchie didn't say anything. She'd been thinking exactly that. She wasn't strong like Shizuo, but where he relied on brute strength she relied on speed and agility. Could that really give her an edge or was it, more likely, just wishful thinking on her part?

Leaving physical imprints on Izaya during sex was one thing, but how amazing would it be if she could mark him in an actual fight? And from the sounds of it Izaya knew exactly what she was thinking. Ritchie didn't exactly think like a normal person, but Izaya still had the scary ability to get inside her head.

Though of course she'd never give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. "If I can, will you leave me alone?" she said, lacing her tone with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

"Is that a challenge, Ritchie-chan?"

"Maybe it is," said Ritchie, fighting to keep anything from showing on her face.

"Alright then..." Izaya pulled Ritchie in towards him so that their faces were inches apart, her lips mere breaths away from that wicked smirk of his. "If you can get me on this floor then I won't try to stop you from taking those dance lessons of yours."

Ritchie hesitated. Izaya's wagers and deals never went down well. If he was actually suggesting this himself then that just confirmed that what she'd suspected was true. Izaya seemed very sure of himself - that meant there was no way she could win. But Ritchie had never been one to give up easily. He was providing her with the very chance she'd been waiting for... The chance to try and get what she wanted. And try was damn well what she was going to do.

"Are you too chicken, Ritchie-chan?" asked Izaya mockingly, as Ritchie was still thinking things over, still trying to plan her next move. He released her hand and took two steps back, completing the sequence with an exaggerated sigh. "That's too bad."

"Like hell I'm chicken... Think again!" Ritchie growled and then sprang at him, closing the distance he'd just put between them.

It was a stupid move. Izaya could already anticipate what she was going to do at the best of times, even when she didn't always know herself, but she really couldn't have done anything more obvious on this occasion. And of course Izaya had been waiting for it. He skipped out of the way and grabbed Ritchie's outstretched wrist again, though this time to help propel her aside, adding to her momentum.

Ritchie span on her heels, turning and just about stopping herself from crashing into the table where the Chinese Go board sat. Izaya stood in the centre of the room, watching her in enjoyment, waiting for her next move. There was no way she could act and make it _not_ obvious. He'd see everything she tried to do. Well... in that case she'd just have to give it everything she had and hope that she could win _without_ the element of surprise.

Trying not to think about how that meant that she was playing without the one thing that _could_ have given her the slightest chance of winning, Ritchie gritted her teeth and threw herself at Izaya again, her fist raised, hoping that possibly landing a blow might at least distract him. Of course it was just more of that wishful thinking. Izaya caught her fist again like before and twisted her arm painfully behind her back in the same movement.

The hold dragged her in closer to him. Ritchie tried swiping at his legs with her foot in an attempt to kick them out from under him, but Izaya turned the move back on her - sidestepping her foot and then hooking the toe of his shoe around her ankle and dragging it sharply from underneath her.

Ritchie felt herself fall back as his kick compromised her balance, but he still had a firm grip on the arm pinned behind her back and he used it partly to hold her up, partly to pull her down further into an obscure limbo stance so that her shoulder joint screamed in protest and she was looking up helplessly into Izaya's smirking face. It was more similar to an obscene, dipping dance move than the poor twirl he'd attempted earlier.

"You've gotta try harder than that, Ritchie-chan," he chuckled, the fires of amusement still prominent in his dark eyes.

Ritchie scowled and tried to hit out at his face with her free hand, but the angle she was being held at made it impossible to aim or even put any real strength behind it. All she could manage was some rather embarrassing flailing. And of course that just entertained Izaya all the more.

He laughed and then thrust Ritchie outwards, using his grip on her arm, spinning her away from him. Ritchie felt her shoulder pull again as she whirled round, but then Izaya released her and she was suddenly standing upright again - a few feet of distance now between them. Maybe the fucker could dance after all.

"Now try again," Izaya prompted brightly, unperturbed by Ritchie's death glare.

Ritchie hesitated cautiously, trying to gage what the hell she could try next. She'd already realised by now that she was fighting a losing battle. Who had she been kidding? She had no chance of beating Izaya in a straight fight. She didn't even come close to measuring up to him. So how did she get out of this without simply raising her hands in defeat? She couldn't even think of any dirty tricks she could play...

Well... Maybe there was one.

It was a low blow - both literally and metaphorically speaking - but there was one sure-fire way to floor a guy... Which was why it was Ritchie's last resort.

She charged him again, feinting to the left side and then switching abruptly to the right, her fist raised once more. And once again her fist was encircled, stopped by Izaya's stronger hand. Only this time Ritchie had been hoping for it. With her balance steadied by Izaya's own grip, she brought her knee up with as much force as she could to meet his groin. The fastest way to bring a man to his knees.

To Ritchie's dismay though, Izaya still saw it coming. He'd clearly expected her to resort to foul play because at the last second he twisted his body away from her, meaning her knee simply grazed the outside of his thigh instead. Then whilst her leg was still raised - before she could regain her balance - Izaya hooked his free hand underneath it and pulled sharply upwards, sending Ritchie falling back again. This time he released her hand and let her fall.

Ritchie hit the floor hard, the breath whooshing out of her in a pained gasp. She cracked the back of her head on the unforgiving wood. It wasn't enough to cause any real damage, but it was certainly hard enough to hurt.

"You're not very good at this," Izaya taunted, looking down at her, wholly entertained. "Fancy resorting to such dirty tricks."

"You're actually enjoying this, aren't you?" Ritchie growled breathlessly. She started to drag herself up, ignoring the shooting pains down her spine and the throbbing of her skull.

"Well you're the one who keeps trying to hurt _me_, Ritchie-chan," Izaya replied sardonically.

"Yeah, well _you're_..." Ritchie trailed off, only just having pulled herself to her knees, as her cell phone started ringing. She could see the display flashing on the coffee table, where she'd left it. She scrambled to her feet and pushed past Izaya grumpily. "Time out."

She hoped like hell it was Sei, or someone else who could provide a good distraction. Anything to get herself out of this mess without actually surrendering. She still had too much pride to admit defeat, but she couldn't exactly keep trying either. She needed time to think up a different strategy, or - definitely wishfully thinking - hope Izaya would just forget about the whole thing... Yeah, right.

Ritchie managed to get to the phone before it stopped ringing. "Hello?" The only response she got was the sound of breathing from the other end. She scowled. Not again... "Look, this is getting really old. Stop calling me already."

She irritably flipped the phone shut. She didn't even need to check the call log to know it had been an unknown number. It wasn't the first time she'd gotten one of these stupid calls. She'd actually had six now. Six over the last few weeks. She had no idea if it was supposed to be a practical joke or someone just being a creep, but it really _was_ getting old.

"I think you have a fan," Izaya chuckled. He still hadn't moved from the spot he'd been standing in.

"Yeah, well, I'm certainly not a fan of them," Ritchie grumbled, stubbornly switching her phone off and replacing it back on the table.

"And you still don't know who's calling?" Izaya asked. He'd already witnessed a few of the previous prank calls, so Ritchie couldn't pin the blame on him. Not directly anyway.

"I told you it's an unknown number," said Ritchie exasperatedly. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"There _are_ ways to trace a phone number," Izaya pointed out. "You just have to know the right people."

"Let me guess. You're one of the right people?"

"Why Ritchie-chan, how nice of you to say..."

"Cut the crap," Ritchie swiftly interrupted him. "Would you be able to trace the number?"

"I would," said Izaya with a knowing smile.

"But you won't," Ritchie finished for him, making it a statement rather than a question.

Izaya's smile widened. "You always grasp the bigger picture so quickly."

Ritchie just rolled her eyes. "Of course I do."

Sometimes she wondered what she'd done to deserve such an insufferable boyfriend. Sure, she'd broken Shizuo's nose, she'd been arrested more times than she could count on one hand, and she got stinking drunk almost routinely... But come on. That still didn't feel like a big enough criminal record to be dealt such a punishment.

Izaya continued to grin at her. "I _can_ find out the number for you... However. There will be a price."

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. "You actually want my money?" She knew that, as an informant, that was what Izaya did. But was he seriously still trying to pull that kind of thing on her?

"Info brokers don't always work for money," Izaya pointed out.

Did he mean what Ritchie thought he meant? If he did then that was the kind of payment she'd be more than willing to make. She moved fluidly back over to him, sliding a hand up his chest and the other round the back of his neck. "Oh yeah?" she asked innocently.

That same amusement danced across Izaya's features. "I wasn't talking about sex, Ritchie-chan."

Ritchie tried not to think about how if he didn't want money or sex then he must have meant some other, likely worse favour. "That's too bad," she said lightly, breathing the words across his lips. "Because I could have paid you a fortune."

Though Izaya still kept up his usual cool demeanour, his body at least was happy with the situation as Ritchie ground her hips against his through their clothes. He may have thought himself above all humans, but he was still just a guy. And all guys' bodies reacted to sensual touch. Even Izaya was a victim to human nature.

Taking the hardening press against her now warm spot as a general consensus, Ritchie moulded herself even closer against the length of Izaya's body, crushing her breasts against his chest so hard that it hurt. Even she occasionally enjoyed a little pain with her pleasure. Not as much as Izaya did of course, but sometimes you just couldn't do better than a nice session of rough sex.

Forgetting the reason she'd started along this line in the first place - forgetting that there'd even _been_ a reason - Ritchie dragged Izaya's mouth down onto hers, slipping her tongue past his lips to explore deep inside. Sensing the urgency building within her from the force of her mouth and the press of her body, Izaya fought back with lips, tongue and teeth.

Ritchie's laced shirt was pulled from her body with such force that it tore slightly at the neck. She didn't even notice. She couldn't quite prioritise what to do with her hands - drag Izaya's belt off or scratch lines down his neck, his shoulders, his back...

They never would have made it to the bedroom. They didn't even make it to the couch. Instead they collapsed on the floor in a heap of limbs and lips, Ritchie still fighting to tear away as many clothes as possible. Izaya's shirt had already been lost in the fray, as well as one of Ritchie's boots. His belt was also now out of the way, his jeans riding down, Ritchie noted in satisfaction as Izaya covered her body with his.

Though Ritchie took great pleasure in being the one on top, she also derived endless amounts of enjoyment being underneath Izaya too. Sometimes being ridden was just as much fun as doing the riding. Getting the dominant position for once was always good, but then she missed out on the spectacular feeling of being driven into the floor.

As the thought briefly, barely coherently, crossed her mind Ritchie realised something crucial: they were on the floor. In the midst of everything she still knew that that was somehow important. Maybe this time she'd have that element of surprise that she so needed...

She suddenly bucked underneath Izaya as hard as she could. It was enough. She managed to flip him over onto his back, her body rolling with his. In one swift movement she'd straddled his waist and grabbed both his wrists, pinning them to the floor. He likely could have gotten out of it if he wanted to, but that wasn't the point.

"Pinned ya," she said smugly.

Surprise flickered briefly through Izaya's expression, quickly replaced by a frown. "That's not how it works, Ritchie-chan."

"Are you sure?" Ritchie asked theatrically, pretending to think about it. "Because from what I recall all you said was I had to get you on the floor. And guess what? You're on the floor."

Izaya's face was impassive for several long moments, then he smirked. "You just love to bend the rules, don't you?"

"Can't bend rules if there never were any to start with," Ritchie pointed out. She still felt smug. She knew she'd won out, no matter how reluctant Izaya was to admit it.

Eventually though, he did concede. "I guess you're right."

_Score one for me_, Ritchie thought to herself, pleased. Though she was now more intrigued by this new situation they'd found themselves in. Izaya hadn't tried to kick her off. Sure, she'd climbed on top of him plenty of times, but she'd never tried to forcibly pin him down before. She wondered how well it would have worked out, had this really been part of the fight.

"You could get out of this if you wanted to, couldn't you?" asked Ritchie, looking down at him. Her hair had gotten a little longer recently - it hung about her face in a black halo of untidy spikes. She was leaning close enough to Izaya for it to tickle his face.

"Of course," he said confident, no trace of hesitation.

"Then why haven't you tried to yet?"

Izaya's smirk lengthened. "I thought I'd see what it was like to be in your position for once."

Ritchie scowled, not appreciating what he was implying. "Very funny."

"Though I do have to say..." Izaya paused for effect, then in a flash he'd thrust himself up and over, driving Ritchie to the floor once more. It was harder and faster than what she'd tried and she found herself crushed underneath his body before she'd even realised what had happened, his hands now holding her down instead. "...That I much prefer being the one in control."

It was that fight for control once again... And it didn't look like it was one Ritchie could win. Not yet anyway. But maybe for now, at least, she was okay with that.

"What about my dance lessons?" Ritchie struggled to ask.

She felt breathless, though she couldn't quite decide why. Maybe it was the thrill from the sudden, almost animal move of Izaya claiming her beneath him. Maybe it was the weight of being pinned so completely to the floor by the full length of Izaya's body. Or maybe it was the fact that his crotch was pushing hard and ready against hers.

"I suppose you did win the wager... Even if you fought dirty to do so."

"Hey, no rules set, remember?" Ritchie reminded him. He was not going to twist this one on a technicality that had never been put into place.

Izaya chuckled. "Fine, you can take your silly dance lessons."

"How kind of you," Ritchie couldn't help but reply with a barb of sarcasm.

"And maybe, just maybe..." Izaya dipped his head down past hers, running his mouth down the line of her neck and making her squirm. "I'll let you find another way to pay me for finding out who your mysterious caller is."

And with that he sank his teeth into Ritchie's neck. Ritchie writhed underneath him. She wasn't a big fan of pain and she'd never got why Izaya was so hot on it with sex... But the sharp sting was followed by a searing wave of pleasure and she realised that maybe her body understood it more than her head did.

She fought to keep her voice level, to keep from letting on how much that one act of foreplay had affected her. "And maybe, just maybe..." she imitated, breathing into his ear, "I'll let you stay on top."

Izaya mirrored her move, smirking as his hot breath tickled her earlobe. "You say that like you have a choice."

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Sooo apologies for the long delay in updating... Some of you may already know that I've been out of the country for the last few months and obviously didn't get any chances then. Since I've been back I've just been playing catch up and it's taken me a while just to getting round to typing up everything I wrote whilst I was away! So I apologise with a fairly lengthy chapter.

Also I've had two people mention to me about lack of plotline so I wanted to clear that up. Firstly, there was never actually supposed to be a plotline! When I posted the very first chapter it was originally just going to be a one-shot on how Ritchie and Izaya had met, then everything else was going to be more one-shots. But everyone liked it so much that I decided to turn it into a story and add more filler. All of the ideas included were originally intended for one-shots, so that's why it's taken a lot longer to get into an actual storyline.

Don't get me wrong though - in more recent chapters I've started including hints towards a bigger picture. The phone calls, Izaya's mood swings, bits of Ritchie's past... it's all adding up to something bigger ;) It's just taken longer to get round to it because that was never the original idea aha.

Oh, and this chapter. First time I've ever written sexy stuff in public. I wrote the majority of the last part on the flight home |D (right after some big Danish guy had shoved his hairy ass crack in my face ffff. Needed something to distract myself aha!)


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